Freedom in Pen and Paper
by E.S. Simeon
Summary: Daisuke finds the perfect way to express some hindering emotions regarding Hikari by pen and paper. The plan is successful as Daisuke progresses in his Digimon Tamers story, but Chibimon sees something much deeper within the Takato and Ruki characters.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** The setting here is post adventure-02, but much of the plot actually takes place in a written story as Tamers.

**A/N2:** As a human, mistakes are only natural for me, if there is anything that is wrong, stupid, messed up, or whatever use the review button and keep the flames a constructive one that could help me improve, thanks.

**Disclaimer:** This is just a fanfiction, characters and about everything else I do not personally own, and this applies for all contents of this story.

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The sun was up and strong giving light to all who lived on the planet of earth. Throughout the last few periods, there had been waging battles, chaos and all the other kinds of weird stuff going on with the "Digimon". Now it was peaceful with BelialVamdemon defeated and everything was at rest... well almost everything.

In a certain house in Japan a single person well-known to be Motomiya Daisuke, was sitting in his room, laying his head down ignoring all the bright earth around him. For him, nothing really mattered right now; he wanted nothing to do with his world or the Digiworld. The reason for his down state has got to do with someone he likes... Or rather liked. Normally for Daisuke there would be nothing that could stop him from jumping from one end of the world to the other, but perhaps this time it would be a little too much for him to handle. Daisuke would not deny it, he loved Hikari, and he would just do anything if he could be with her. However, reality continues to show him harshness as Hikari would come to be more and more distant from Daisuke as time went by. Hikari still considered him as a friend, but nothing more beyond that. Daisuke knew that it would be nearly impossible to be with Hikari from the beginning, yet he still tried and now was left out in the cold.

The door to Daisuke's room slowly creaked open, and walked in was a small blue-lizard creature that climbed up the clutter around the small-quiet room and landed on the isolated desk where Daisuke planted down his head. The small creature--The Digimon took some slow steps towards Daisuke, his partner and smiled "Hey, Daisuke! What's wrong? You seem to be sleeping all the time"

No response from Daisuke except a small grunt. The small V-mon was determined to see why his own partner was so lazy since all his friends are enjoying the rest of their vacation while he stays down. "Daisuke! Are you alright?" Asked the tiny V-mon.

There was a bit of a silence and this time a small response was heard from Daisuke's buried face. "Yeah, I am alright" it said.

"Why aren't you outside with your friends then? Everybody knows about us Digimon now, there is no need to worry" The small creature urged.

"You can go... I am staying here..." Replied another half-audible voice from Daisuke.

Chibimon let out a small sigh, knowing that Daisuke is just going to be stubborn and not going to get up. He slowly traveled down from the cold desk that Daisuke buries his head in all day and across to the exit door. Before actually leaving he stops and turns around to give a word of encouragement hoping that his partner would get up soon, since Daisuke has been quiet ever since their final battle with BelialVamdemon. "If it is about Hikari, maybe you can go try talking to her. Anyway, I am off to play now!"

It was Daisuke's turn to let out a sigh, it would be easy for Chibimon to say talk to her, but it was way easier said then done. Of course, Chibimon was only a Digimon, so how would he have understood anything about humans? At least not much as of now. Daisuke now lifted his dark face out of his arms that he buried into and the hard desk, the sun's light shined through the blinds and into the room where his face was. _I only wish for another chance..._ Daisuke thought, there was just no helping it. It didn't take him long to realize that Hikari was for Takeru, and now all he wishes for is another chance where he would be in complete control, where he could have done things better. It did him no good to wish for it, in the end Hikari was going with Takeru anyway, it's her choice after all.

Daisuke put his head down onto the cold desk again, this time his head down for a little rest and his hands reaching outward. _I really wish I had another chance that I could change things..._ He thought again, unable to accept the harsh reality that he has to live with.

To Daisuke's left was an untidy stack of writing utensils that was unbalanced and eventually fell apart, with almost everything intact except one pen that rolled away and towards Daisuke. Meanwhile, Daisuke was too concerned with his second chance thought to notice the mess that broke out, but when the rolling pen had made contact with his fingers, it was like grabbing onto a whole new opportunity. Daisuke was unaware of what to do with his pen; school certainly has not started yet, so why would he need a pen for? It was not until awhile that the idea had struck him, the pen was his second chance to make things right!

_I get it..._ Daisuke thought, he immediately took out a medium-length and medium-thick note book and opened to the first page. There was no other way sweeter then this, and it was the only way that he could get his second chance. All of his ideas and thoughts would be processed here and it would all be controlled by him and him alone. So... what exactly should I write about? Thought Daisuke, a poem maybe? Perhaps, but Daisuke's thoughts was very expansive and just a mere poem could not get everything down, then he thought about a short story, but that won't do either he has too much to say. Daisuke's mind began to process many ideas and many things that he could have imagined before, some old, and some new. He had to think of some way to make them all fit into one giant story or none of it would make much sense. After thinking for about a whole year, Daisuke had thought up of a perfect plan to get everything down, only now he needed some imaginative material, and this is where his old thoughts along with newer ones came into play.

On the cover of the book, Daisuke began to mark down a title, and the title of the book was:

_**Digimon Tamers**_

It had looked good enough to him, and now to put his plans into words that would describe everything that he wanted to be, and everything that was to be. He would first start by summarizing thoughts from prior to his great idea first, so then there would be a perfect setting for him to see things his way, and there was no stopping him.

**Prologue**

The great adventure before had started when a little boy known as Takato Matsuda had drawn his very own Digimon and eventually came to life and their great adventure started. Along the way they met Jenrya Li and Ruki Makino, who were both Tamers with live Digimon from the digital world as well.

Jenrya was a great friend to Takato; he would always try to help out Takato whenever the need arose. His Digimon was Terriermon, who became a real Digimon during one of Jenrya's time on his Digimon video game.

Then there was Ruki, who was very distant to everyone. It was very difficult for Takato and Jenrya to get along with her. Ruki's personality was very cold and she thought that all Digimon was just simply data that existed only for the purpose of fighting. It was not until she was rescued from IceDevimon with the help of Takato and Jenrya that she started to open up a little to others.

Along the way, the Tamers also meet Culumon, who had mysterious powers that allowed Digivolution. Another figure was Impmon, who was just a nuisance for the Tamers as he appeared only to bug them with unknown reasons. Throughout the adventure in their world, the three Tamers fight with many wild Digimon that mysteriously appear before them and also unknown to them at that time was a secret organization called Hypnos that worked to stop wild Digimon from entering the world. Way later, ultimate Digimon who called themselves Devas started to emerge into the real world, and the Digimon Tamers soon learn that they were sent by the Digimon Sovereigns. After having fought several Devas, Culumon was captured during one of their fights and now they decided to go to the Digital world themselves to rescue Culumon and deal with the rest of the Devas.

Their trip to the Digital world was also included Juri Kato, Hirokazu Shiota and Kenta Kitagawa. All who were Takato's friends from school, and on their adventure in the Digital world, they meet up with Ryo Akiyama, who went missing after winning against Ruki in the Digimon card game, he was also very much hated by Ruki to which she refused to work with him. Even much later, Shuichon Li (Jenrya's sister) was mysteriously transported to the Digital world where she met and befriended Antylamon, who was the Rabbit Deva that became Shuichon's partner. After gathering around from being separated, the whole group of Tamers along with their Digimon (Hirokazu gained Guardromon as his partner during their adventure, Juri had Leomon before the Digital world and Ryo appeared with Cyberdramon but was not present at this time), they were approached by Beelzebumon, who was warp Digivolved from Impmon after making a deal with the Devas.

During this battle, Beelzebumon had dealt death to Leomon. Takato, filled with emotions of anger and killing rage, forced Guilmon to Digivolve into Megidramon, who was a total threat to the Digital world. Eventually Megidramon was taken down by Beelzebumon, who had absorbed data of Makuramon. Soon Takato and Guilmon merged into Dukemon and won the battle against Beelzebumon, but refrained from destroying him under Juri's request. Afterwards, everyone continued to fight their way to the Shiseijuu. At the top, Zhuqiaomon was knocked down by SaintGalgomon, but then rose again to fight the Tamers. As the fight raged on, Qinglongmon interrupted and they all focused on a more important entity that was the real problem at hand: The D-Reaper.

Learning of new enemy, the Tamers were transported back to their real world for their fight with the D-Reaper. When the battle started, it was soon revealed that Juri had been taken captive by the D-Reaper as a subject of study and was imprisoned in a Kernel Sphere. Later Culumon and Beelzebumon tried to free Juri from the prison but had failed to do so, and as the D-Reaper extended into it's final form, Juri and Culumon was kept inside the sphere. Finally, with the combined efforts of Sakuyamon, SaintGalgomon, Justimon and Dukemon they defeated the D-Reaper and rescued Juri. With the D-Reaper defeated, the Digimon of their Tamers had to return to the Digital world, but it was not the end.

The Tamers along with their partners would be reunited later as they battle Locomon and Parasimon. Even with everything all over, there still was a great deal of adventure with Digimon.

Daisuke put down his pen and closed the book, this was enough for today. The scene was perfect for where he would write his story, but for now he was ready dreamland instead.

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Ok, so that was just a little boring since it was more of a summary, but hopefully it gets better as the story goes on. For now, I'll accept any feedback. 


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Well, the chapter from before was more like an Intro, so things may seem blurry. Anyway, some concerns to answer to would be that the plot and setting of the fanfic takes place in the writings of the story. The timeline will be post adventure 02(and post Runaway Locomon in the story), so the age of all characters are pretty much the same as during the series or one year older.

* * *

It was the night... the dreaded night before school would be starting and Daisuke himself would rather not go to school. The simple reason was that at school he would see his friends, and also see her. Daisuke wished vacation would last longer, but the reality continues to be harsh and he could only feel helplessness. Unable to go back to sleep, Daisuke gets up and proceeds to the same desk that he had written in earlier. _Perhaps I will fall asleep soon after getting something off my mind…_ he thought, and picked up his pen and turned on a small light along with opening the book. 

**Chapter 1: Truth to be told**

It would seem that everything is at calm now that Locomon and Parasimon are defeated and everything just seemed peaceful and normal. Although that would mean bad news for Digimon Tamers as peaceful and normal meant no action for them. This gave Takato the perfect chance though, since he had been wanting to get a chance to talk to Juri, but one thing that always troubled Takato was why she had seem a little distant towards him. For everyone else Juri got along fine, but it always seemed like she had avoided Takato. This put great confusion for Takato as he himself rescued Juri in-person from the D-Reaper, and at that time Juri seems happy to see him. Many questions and thoughts had confused Takato that he did not quite finish his pictures of Guilmon in his notebook as his teacher happened to walk by.

So everyone started laughing at Takato like always, but the one noticeable thing for Takato was that although Juri laughed with the class, she did not really turn her head in the direction of Takato; it was as if she was specifically avoiding him. The whole thing just worried Takato a whole lot, so he was set out to find Juri sometime to see what's up. He had managed to see Juri in the school before, but even after calling to her, she wouldn't respond and just hurry away from him.

Putting his troubles aside for now, he would meet up with some of his friends at the usual park and play there. Usually it would be just Hirokazu, Kenta and Takato. Of course, sometimes Jenrya, Juri or even Ruki would come to visit, but only once every long time.

Today was a different type of day though, Takato wasn't half-present in their games, and Jenrya easily sees through to Takato.

"Hey Takato, you seem like you're out of this world" He said, facing the absent-Takato. There was a pause, Hirokazu and Kenta was just playing their card games like usual even with their Digimon around watching them, all while Takato is deep with thought. Jenrya tried interrupting Takato again, "Takato!" He called out, breaking Takato's thoughts.

"Oh, hello" Takato responded with his usual smile.

"Takato..." Jenrya started, "What's up with you? Your head seem to be in another universe all this time since school started" He said.

"Well, It's nothing... just that I noticed Juri seem to be ignoring me lately..." Takato replied, still pondering on the subject.

"Maybe you should speak to her sometime, you might have done something that she did not like." Jenrya said.

"Or maybe he always has done things that Juri did not like and this time Juri is just fed up with him" Terriermon added, being in a relaxed state.

"Hey, I am not a bad guy..." Takato replied weakly.

"Terriermon!" Jenrya called, always not knowing what his Digimon partner would say to other people.

Seeing as there was nothing much else to say to the topic, Takato rejoined his friends in their playful afternoon while Guilmon sleeps. When Guilmon is not eating, he is sleeping, and when he is not sleeping, he's eating. Culumon occasionally flies by and play with the Tamers' Digimon too, and it was very relaxed for almost everyone.

Later in the day, Takato was walking back to his house and he passed by someone familiar. The figure he passed was no other then the feared Digimon Queen; this was Ruki, who was never close to anybody except her partner.

"Hi Ruki!" Takato said, hoping that Ruki is not in a bad mood.

Ruki stopped and turned around, seeing it was only him, she gave a normal response, "Goggle head? What do you want?" She replied.

"I am just saying hi and..." Takato didn't really know what to say to her, after all Ruki's original cold personality had made her a bit hard to talk too even after going through the adventures with the other Tamers.

"Yeah, and I'll bet you must be having fun with your friends and their cards too. Perhaps if you used your head more you would find something better to do with your time" Ruki said.

"Well, I was thinking maybe you'd like to join us because we are just relaxing and..." Takato was interrupted before he finished.

"No! Why would I want to hang around with you and your friends? Besides, I have better things to do..." She interrupted before continue walking on.

Takato knew Ruki is just unwilling to show that she cares for all the other Tamers because that was the way she was, and most of the time most people won't even talk to her because of the dangers involved with talking to her, but Takato himself don't face those dangers when facing Ruki, the worse that can happen is just about a painful punch or two for Takato, although that would still be enough to put him out for awhile.

However, their small conversation had not gone unnoticed. Further away from where Ruki and Takato had spoken to each other, a pair of eyes appeared, seeming like a very jealous pair of eyes that watched the whole scene and followed Takato until he was out of this eye-sight.

For now, Takato worried more about Juri, who he hasn't even talked to since rescuing her from the D-Reaper. He arrived home and soon went to sleep; waiting for tomorrow, at least right now he knew Guilmon wouldn't be running around town and scaring off everybody.

_-Next Day-_

Takato had tried not to get into trouble today, he has some questions for Juri that needed answers to, and he just could not afford to stay after class. Even in class, he still spoke to his friends, and sometimes Juri would have some input if the topic was Digimon, but she had still refuse to even glance at Takato's direction and she just seemed to avoid Takato all the time. After classes, Takato would finally get a chance to talk to Juri, if he could catch her that is. He had almost no luck finding Juri as she quickly disappeared after class was dismissed. After searching around all the places that he thinks Juri could possibly be, Takato sat down outside to take a small break. He could not find Juri in his efforts and decides that he may as well give up for now, until he actually sees Juri just turning around the corner an obstacle. Takato then proceeded slowly towards Juri, knowing that she may run away if she sees Takato for whatever reason. Juri seemed to be happy from what Takato could see from further away, but as he approached her, Takato beings to worry. _What if I scare her off?_ _Everyone would think of me as a freak then... _he thought, and then slowly proceeded towards Juri.

Juri was pretty relaxed as she sat down on a small bench outside in her free time. The silence was sort of interrupted when Takato's shadow stood over Juri, and she knew this time she just couldn't run away. Juri slowly turned around, but not quite facing Takato, her face was grim.

"Juri?" Takato started, there was a pause. Juri knew she had to say it now, it would be a great surprise to Takato, but it's now or never.

"Yes, Takato?" Juri replied, trying to smile.

"Juri... why is it that you seem so distant to everyone? Or to me? Is something bothering you?" Takato asked, not aware of what's to come.

"Oh, it's nothing really... I just need some time alone..." Juri said, filled with uncertainty.

"Wait, what is it that's bothering you? You can tell me, Juri..." Takato trailed off. At first, after the D-Reaper incident, he thought much about Juri, and the things we would have said, but this reality was totally different from what he had imagined.

"Well, I don't know Takato..." Juri responded weakly, normally she wouldn't have trouble telling Takato, but maybe right now she would feel different about it because this was a scaring truth.

Before actually speaking, Juri turned away from Takato, she was just not ready to face Takato directly and tell him her feelings. It was just too much at this point, and before Takato could move, Juri raised her hand with her dog-sock, and it spoke.

"Juri is not avoiding Takato or anyone, and she wants to be friends with Takato and everyone else too... but... Juri is afraid of Takato at the moment. Since the Megidramon incident, Juri wants to be friends with Takato, but whenever she faces Takato, she sees a battle-hungry monster instead. Juri honestly means no harm to Takato, please forgive her" The Sock spoke, and with that Juri slowly got up, still not wanting to face Takato.

Takato stood up after Juri, he had heard it all, and as much as it hurt him he wanted to say something to Juri, but no words came out as Juri departed from the scene.

----

Daisuke looked over at his work, it was well done. The plot would thicken from this point on, and what awaits Takato or Ruki would come soon. Daisuke flipped over the page and let out a small laugh while proceeding to write chapter 2, only to feel very tired as he finished writing the "2" of chapter 2. He was tired enough for bed now, and when he lied down on his bed, he muttered a few words from not being able to write chapter 2. "Until next time... In Digimon, Digital Monsters..." Daisuke muttered out before falling back into slumber.

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**A/N:** That seems to be it for now; I guess I am better off with letting the story develop with little scenes like this one at a time. Feedback is welcome. 


	3. Chapter 2

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School had now started, and Daisuke is never ready because he's either too busy thinking of other things or just re-reading the story he has written so far and fixing the mistakes that he spotted. He had still hanged around his friends, but he would not be involved as he was before, as his thoughts were all about his story, and how he would slowly release his troubled emotions through it. Everytime he sees Hikari with Takeru just made himself feel worse and pushed him more to write his story. Although his friends have noticed the change in Daisuke, he was the type of guy that was excellent in making excuses and covering up his down mood, and so he was able to escape his friends for now. Even then, inside he was still trying to gather himself, inside he just felt lost and hopeless with his emotions. Yet, because of these very emotions he was able to form the story he had in his mind and kept him alive as long as he had his pen and paper with him. He would write whenever he was away from his friends, and this would be his way to escape the world of pain and suffering. 

**Chapter 2: Searching for Takato**

For the rest of the day, Takato had not been feeling much better then before. After Juri revealed the truth to him, he was rather in a down mood. Takato could not accept it, he knew Juri meant the best in keeping their friendship, but right now he just feels ripped apart. The rest of the school day was no help; all Takato could think of was what he heard from that confrontation. _Monster..._ it rang in his mind, distracting him everything around him. The word had seemed to haunt him, and it agonized him all-throughout the rest of the day that he was unable to concentrate on any school work. Luckily for him, the teacher really hadn't noticed his disturbed state and he got through the agonizing hours. Everyone was happy and stormed out of the school, but Takato had taken his time and slowly shifted out of the building without noticing. He had no idea what's gotten to him, or why he felt so miserable all of a sudden over a single light-conversation.

After school, Takato retreated to Guilmon's shed. He had made sure that his friends weren't around, and he sat down while Guilmon is happy with his bread and just enjoying his time in this world. Takato still could not get himself together; it was probably because of his strong emotions that he had for Juri. Even before D-Reaper, he had always regarded Juri as a special friend, but during the D-Reaper incident he found out that there was something more, and after D-Reaper he still held onto those feelings. Only that now Juri just didn't look at him the same way, and he would admit himself that he did let his emotions take control over himself during the Beelzebumon fight. He knew that his dark side showed clearly when he made Megidramon appear and that he could not deny, but being called a monster was a whole different feeling, especially if it was from Juri. Takato could not think of it anymore, and he just had to look for some answers.

"Guilmon..." Takato called, still filled with uncertainty.

The Red dino-monster stopped and turned towards his Tamer, for he himself noticed his Tamer's down mood and was wondering but he had no experience on human emotions so he just hoped for the best, and now perhaps would be a good time to see if he can help. Guilmon turned towards his Tamer and smiled, it was always a happy time to see his Tamer, no matter what the situation was. "Huh, Takatomon?" He said.

Takato smiled back at Guilmon, it was always a happy time seeing Guilmon, his very own Digimon and friend. Still, he could not hold back all that's been bothering him; he let out a breath before trying to look for answers. "Hey Guilmon... do you think that I am a... monster?" Takato asked.

Guilmon wasn't exactly sure of the young Tamer's question or what it meant, but he just gave his best answer anyway. "Takatomon is not a monster, he's a friend to everyone" Guilmon replied, going up to Takato and smiling as well as playfully digging his head into Takato.

Takato could not help but laugh at this, he knew that his Digimon may not know much, but he was always a valuable friend and partner to have around and that was good enough for now. "Guilmon... I am not a mon..." Takato said, as he put his arms around the happy Digimon.

"Ok Takatomon…" He replied, still saying it on purpose.

Takato could not help but smile, Guilmon had always been by his side, and no matter what happened. Guilmon always had a way to make him laugh. For now, Takato was happy to be with his Digimon, but he still needed answer to his question and so he starts to take a walk to think everything through, and maybe tomorrow he would feel better, today for sure was an off-day for Takato.

The next day came, and while everyone was in school, except Takato. Hirokazu and Kenta were wondering why Takato hadn't shown up, but they didn't care much because they knew Takato was strong enough to handle about anything... Jenrya thought it was strange, there would almost be no reason that Takato would absent just so suddenly, and even yesterday Takato's health was nowhere near sick. Terriermon was bored form Jenrya just sitting in the middle of nowhere just thinking and decided to shake around and annoy him to get his attention, and it worked.

"Terriermon! What are you doing?" Jenrya asked, feeling that Terriermon was dancing on his head and almost to the point of ripping his hair out.

Terriermon stopped, and settled down on Jenrya's head after getting his attention. "Oh, just checking to see if you're dead or not. You seem to be quiet today" Terriermon said, falling down into a relaxed state on Jenrya's head.

"No I've been thinking... I don't think it's usual for Takato to just disappear like this, he didn't seem like he was sick or anything too. I don't know, it just seemed too sudden that he would disappear without a trace" Jenrya replied, still thinking of the strange happening.

"Maybe you just worry too much, Momentai..." Terriermon said, closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep like a lifeless doll.

It was then the idea had made sense to Jenrya. He remembered Takato needed to speak to Juri, and after he did, he looked rather lifeless. It made sense there, something had to happen between Juri and Takato that not only made him disturbed, but very down. Jenrya's head sprang up, he could only figure out so much with the information he knows, but in order to know fully about the situation, he has to find Juri in order to know everything he needs to know. Terriermon had almost fallen off Jenrya when he had his ideas together.

"Hey! What was that for?" Terriermon asked.

"I think I figured out Takato's mood from yesterday, but I also need confirmation and I just may be able to figure out where Takato is" Jenrya replied, he was certain of his friend's location, but he just need to see Juri to put everything together.

Jenrya was in no real hurry, he knew where Juri usually is and he would be able to catch her there, but only when he arrived at that location that Juri was busy with her school friends and he had to wait. It was almost an eternity before Juri was free from her friends. Jenrya stood to where he knew she would go, that would be the perfect chance to catch her attention. It happened just as he wanted, Juri noticed him and he was able to get into a conversation. In this conversation, Juri had told Jenrya about what she had really not meant to say to Takato, and she was sorry, but Jenrya assured her that it would be alright and stood up.

"Are you going to look for Takato?" Juri asked, knowing that she would want to help since it was her that caused Takato's down mood.

"Yeah, I would imagine him to be shaken by what you said, but he's strong and I know he won't do something stupid or go very far" Jenrya responded, everything was clear to him and he had some good leads on where Takato might be hiding. He started to leave as Juri called again.

"Wait, I'll help too!" She said, knowing she just had to do something.

Jenrya turned around and responded to Juri. "It's fine... I am going to call Ruki to help out with this search..." Jenrya said, taking his leave again. Juri had tried to speak again, but got interrupted by Terriermon. "Momentai! Don't worry about this, it's not your fault, Takato is just Takato. Besides, he can't have gone far in his current condition!", then Terriermon smiled, giving Juri full assurance that they would find Takato. Juri smiled back, they were right. Takato would never do something stupid over this, and with good friends like Jenrya or even Ruki they were sure to find Takato.

After a long wait for the after school time, Jenrya would commence his plans, but before he could do much, he was caught by Hirokazu and Kenta while going through the park.

"Hey! It's Jenrya!" Shot out Hirokazu, waving to Jenrya.

Jenrya was thinking of a plan to get rid of them, with them around they would want to help out in his plan too. However, Jenrya knew that Hirokazu and Kenta were the last people Takato needs at this exact moment. Jenrya had just thought of pretending not to hear Hirokazu and make a run for it, but by then standing in front of him was Kenta, with an all smiles. Obviously they wanted Jenrya to get involved with their Digimon games, and there was just no way to escape now. _Oh no... what am I going to do Now? _Jenrya thought as he got pulled into the group of Digimon. The rest of the day had not gone better for Jenrya, not only was he pulled into a game-situation with Hirokazu and Kenta, but he also had no way of telling Ruki about the whole thing.

_Man, how long until this is all over?_ Jenrya thought, it was very exhausting to try and have fun and think about a plan at the same time. After spending some more time with the two of them, Jenrya started to try and calm himself down, he knew that Takato wouldn't do something extremely stupid, but he still had to find him since this time it is a strange case. It was then he got a perfect idea to escape them.

"Jenrya!" Kenta shouted, getting his attention.

Jenrya pretended to be spacing out and is getting back into focus. "Oh, Sorry about that" He said.

"Yeah, where have you been? You seem to be sleeping the entire day!" Kenta said, having noticed his absent-mind.

"I guess I just don't feel well, I think I need to go now" Jenrya responded, getting up from their circle.

"Well, it looks like it's time to go anyway" Hirokazu said, getting up as the sky darkens over them.

"Where did that Takato go? It's as if he's afraid of losing or something..." Kenta suggested, taking notice of Takato's absent throughout the day as well.

"Aw, he's probably just crying because I am more powerful then him!" Hirokazu suggested, taking in a laugh.

There was laughter in their circle for that little while, and after some talking they finally broke up to Jenrya's relief. Jenrya was about to start on his search when he remembered something very important. Tonight he had promised his family to be home because they were going to have a family night for once. _Ugh!_ Jenrya thought, he tried not to worry about Takato, but right now he could do nothing to help.

"What's wrong?" asked Terriermon, who was asleep about the entire time throughout the afternoon.

"I've wasted too much time with Hirokazu and Kenta that there is not enough time to search for Takato!" Jenrya said, tensing up from not acting earlier.

"Momentai... He may not have appeared at school today, but he should be fine, it's Takato! Let' just go home for now since we can't do anything" Terriermon said, going back to sleep once again on Jenrya's head.

"I hope you're right..." Jenrya trailed off, he wasn't about to abandon Takato if he was in need, but there was nothing he could do right now and according to Terriermon, he would be ok so he went on his way. Along the way home, Jenrya used a phone to try and contact Ruki, but no one had answered. _I guess this will have to wait for now..._ he thought, running out of ideas.

To make sure, Jenrya sneaked away from his family for awhile to make another phone call to Takato maybe speaking with him, Terriermon made sure no one was near their area so Jenrya won't have to get in trouble. He had asked to be excused to the bathroom and he had to do this quickly.

"Hello? Is Takato there?" Jenrya asked as his call was picked up. There were some responses, and it made him uneasy.

"Oh really? What happened?" He asked. There was another period of silence and tension rose as Jenrya heard more and more from the other side of the phone.

"Alright, sorry to drop in, I'll inform you if I find anything" Jenrya responded before putting down the phone.

Terriermon had sensed the tension and jumped to Jenrya and wondered what was wrong. Terriermon saw that Jenrya's face was grave, there was something seriously wrong.

"Takato never came home from school yesterday..." He breathed out, almost too tense.

Terriermon knew that Jenrya was going to go out and look for him now, especially since hearing this. He tried to make another phone call, but a certain voice stopped him from doing so, it was Janyuu's voice and there was nothing he could do with his family expecting him and his father was about to discover him escaping. It was then Terriermon thought of a great idea, since dinner was just served, he flew right into Jenrya's stomach and he fell down in pain as Janyuu opened the door.

"Hey Jen! What's wrong?" His father asked, kneeling beside him.

"I am fine dad, nothing's wrong... just a little stomach problem..." he responded, he had not expect Terriermon to do this.

"Are you going to be alright?" Janyuu asked.

"Yeah, I am just going to rest a little..." Jenrya responded, waving for Janyuu to leave.

As soon as the door closed, Jenrya almost cried out, but refrained from creating too much noise.

"Terriermon!!" He called; the impact on a head on a full stomach obviously wasn't very comfortable.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. It was the only way!" Terriermon replied, not worrying much at the moment.

Jenrya knew that although he was in no condition to escape his family or look for Takato, at least he has his chance to call for help. He reached for the phone and dialed the Ruki's number.

At the Makino residence the phone rang, and Ruki's mother called her to pick up the phone.

"What is it?" Ruki answered, knowing that as long as it's a call from Takato or Jenrya it's instantly going to be annoying her.

"I need help…" replied Jenrya.

Ruki tried not to get angry, but knowing the word "help" meant using time. Nevertheless, she restrained herself and let Jenrya continue.

"It seems like that when Takato talked to Juri the other day, Juri revealed some thoughts and Takato didn't take it very well it seems. I phoned his house earlier and his parents are distressed because Takato didn't even return from school yesterday" Jenrya explained, hoping that Ruki would understand.

"And what? You need _me_ to search for him?" Ruki asked, not liking the idea of it.

"Yeah... you're the only one who can do this right now. I am unable to leave my house because of my family and even if Takato is found, someone needs to talk him out of his seemingly depressed mood, and I believe that you can do it" Jenrya explained again, hoping that Ruki does not slam down the phone on him.

There was a brief moment of silence as Ruki thought about it for a little bit. Although not very happy with the task at hand, she agreed anyway, knowing that these Tamers overtime have become her 'friends'.

"So do you have any idea where I might find that idiot?" Ruki asked, still not very enthusiastic about the task.

"The only idea I have is a place of quiet and solitude, maybe the park? Because on just feet he couldn't have went far... oh no! I hear my father coming, I've got to go! I guess it's up to you!" Jenrya quickly said, ending the call.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ruki shot back into the phone, but the call had ended already. She stayed quiet for a little bit more before deciding to head out.

"Renamon..." She said, summoning her loyal fox Digimon that was always around to help her in all possible ways.

"Yes Ruki?" The fox said, always ready to do Ruki's bidding.

"We're going out... to look for that worthless Goggle head!" Ruki replied in a resentful voice.

She ran out the house always and calling out "I am going out grandma!" as she passed her. Once outside, she was in thinking. _Why am I rescuing that Goggle head?_ She thought to herself, still not sure what motivated her to go on this quest to look for him. Ruki took Jenrya's advice and headed towards the park to search out their target, along the way, Ruki could hear footsteps. Very quiet footsteps but stalking ones for sure. Renamon was aware of them and was prepared to strike, but Ruki was never in danger's range or gave her the signal to attack and she stayed in the shadows.

The footsteps of the stalker seemed to have stopped as they reached the park, and now the real search began. Renamon went ahead to Guilmon's shed to check while Ruki searched around other areas, all while pair of eyes follow her path as she searched for Takato.

Renamon arrived at the shed where Guilmon rested for now, but there was no sight of Takato anywhere nearby and she could not sense anything so she scouted the area stealthily and not causing a big distraction for people who might be hanging around the park at night. Meanwhile, Ruki scouted the general area and found nothing. _Where could that Goggle head be?_ She wondered, still unaware of the pair of eyes watching her from the distance. It was then that she heard a very faint sneeze, and it came from somewhere distant, but she heard it. Traveling in the direction of the sneeze, the pair of eyes that watched her from the beginning also followed, but from far away.

Once again Ruki heard something, a cough. She continued to travel in the direction until coming to a dead-end. By now, she was positive that there was someone or something here, as she heard another cough form behind the dead end of the path. She traveled around the obstacles and went into the hidden parts of the park, the very same place where Takato had first tried to hide Growmon. Once inside, she once again heard a sneeze, she was positive now that it was Takato. After turning around a few corners, she came into a clear area where she saw the half-sick boy leaning a tree and looking downwards. He had his knees right up to him, almost looking like was crying, but he seemed distracted enough to not notice Ruki.

"Hey, goggle head!" Ruki said, hoping to catch the boy's attention. Receiving no answer, she lifted her leg and kicks the part of the tree next to Takato's face and she called out again, "Goggle head!"

This impact of the hit had woken Takato from his trance and he looked up, identifying Ruki.

"Huh, what are you doing here, Ruki?" Takato asked, unsure of where, or what time it was.

"What? I was requested to look for you! I heard from Jenrya that you haven't returned home from school since yesterday, and he couldn't get out of his own house!" Ruki replied, very uncomfortable with how the sick-boy is.

Takato sat there thinking for a while, _School...? Jenrya...?_ then it hit him that he hadn't gone home and it was night already, he tried to get up, but his tired legs from sitting the many hours pulled him down into the ground again.

Ruki sighed, finding Takato was one thing, but Jenrya was right... getting him together in one piece again was a complete pain.

"Why in the world did you even try to run away?" Ruki asked, turning her back to Takato, not feeling the need to face him.

"I didn't, it's just that I..." Takato trailed off and remembered what Juri had said, and now it all came back to him, he simply had his emotions crushed at that point and overwhelmed him that he could not think straight.

"It's about Juri, isn't it?" Ruki asked, knowing that was the source of Takato's weakness at this point.

"No, it's not..." Takato tried to think of a cover-up, but not only is he hungry, but he is exhausted and barely managed to get back up on his feet.

"Oh right... then why are you here acting like you just lost the love of your life?" Ruki teased, purposely squeezing all the evidence out of Takato. Takato could say nothing at this point, Ruki was right, he overreacted to what Juri said, and now he's got nothing to say. Silence filled the air as Takato remained speechless; the only thing that seemed alive was the pair of eyes that watched them both from afar.

"I suppose I am right then, you ran away drowning your sorrows not knowing what to do" Ruki stated, knowing Takato's condition as Jenrya told her. Takato's response was completely off from her question though, he no longer felt the need to be questioned, but rather felt the need for answers.

"Ruki... do you think that I am a monster..." Takato asked.

Ruki turned to face Takato. _What?_ She thought, not aware of the full story on Takato and Juri's conversation. It took a little time for Ruki to muster an answer, but when she did, it was a typical response from her. "What does that matter at all? Who cares if you're a monster or not, even if everyone on the planet became monsters, it would be easy to tell which one you are!" Ruki replied, not knowing quite what to say to such a sudden or even random question from Takato. With that, Ruki went over to the struggling Takato and pulled him right up from the ground to where he could stand.

"I don't know what this is all about, but you can't keep doing this every time you get turned down, Goggle head... Anyway, we're getting out of here!" Ruki said, grabbing onto Takato's hand, though she knew it was a mistake on her part; she merely ignored anything else and started to drag Takato out of the hiding.

Takato almost skipped a heart-beat as Ruki grabbed onto his hand, but he regained his breath when Ruki dragged him out of his hiding place with great force. Somehow, he survived the drag and made it out of the hiding place. For some reason talking to Ruki had made him feel better about his whole situation, unknown what the reason could be. It was probably Ruki's forceful ways that got him to think straight again.

"Thanks..." Takato managed to say.

Ruki simply responded with a _humph!_ While turning her back against Takato, hiding the small pink patch that appeared on her cheek. "Renamon!" She called, and few second later the fox Digimon appeared, seeing that Takato was alive, they began to walk home. Before getting out of hearing range, Ruki stopped and said one more thing "Next time you stay out here like this, I am just going to let you rot!" Ruki finished, and then continued her way home.

Takato smiled, he knew that was Ruki's way of showing care for her friends. She would never admit an emotion or say something direct, but Takato was glad to have her as a friend because she was strong most of the time and she along with everyone gets along... one way or the other.

Takato gathered his remaining strength took his backpack and started to walk towards home, but before he left the park a pair of quick arms reached out and grabbed Takato on the shoulders and before he could react, the hands pulled him into the nearby bush area. The next thing Takato knew was that he was overpowered by someone or something he couldn't see, and he had no strength left to fight back, and so he was pressed down and wondering what's going to happen. Takato stayed down, thinking that it might be just some thief. It happened then, a voice whispered into his ear.

"Stay away from Ruki, or I will make sure you face dire consequences" said the voice in the ice of the night.

Takato not knowing what to do, just nod, hoping that there would be no further harm to him. Almost immediately after his attacker got the message, Takato felt a force onto him, and before he knew it, he was shoved back out where he was before getting pulled in. After regaining some strength, Takato stood up, whoever his attacker was had already left the scene and now he should do the same._ I wonder what that was about... _Takato thought, and the part of staying away from Ruki confused him even more. He ignored those for now, as he travels home after being so miserable outside he was finally going back home, he knew his parents are going to be worried sick so he hurried. As he approached the door, he did hear a worried cry from his mother, and the voice of his father trying to calm his mother. Wasting no more time, Takato went into the house, and that night there was a pair of happy parents.

----------

Daisuke was proud of this work, it looked awesome when he finished it, and this was the beginning of a great adventure he had set down. He already felt a piece of his troubled emotions lifted away from him, the story of his emotions would finally start to expand. As Daisuke was looking over his work, Iori called to him. Daisuke immediately put away his pen and hid his notebook, standing up to hide everything.

"Hey Daisuke, what was that?" Iori asked, seeing him with the book and pen.

"Huh? What was what?" Daisuke said, putting on his deceiving smile.

"The writing you were doing" Iori pointed out, seeing right through Daisuke's smile.

Daisuke immediately thought of the perfect excuse, while putting away his smile, he replied to his small friend. "Oh, that? It's just some assignment" he lied.

Iori suspected Daisuke, knowing that he wouldn't spend his free-time on schoolwork; otherwise his marks would be much higher. Still, maybe Daisuke was going through a change, so Iori just dropped the thought while telling Daisuke that all their friends were going to relax after school.

"Yeah sure, I'll come!" Was Daisuke's response, which was normal of him.

After all the activities passed, Daisuke came home and put down the pen and book on his table then falling down on his bed. Chibimon slowly appeared afterwards, moving towards Daisuke.

"Daisuke... why do you keep hiding everything from your friends lately?" the small Digimon asked.

Daisuke turned his tired head to the small Digimon and then put out his response. "This is my story, and it contains all my thoughts, I can't reveal this or anything to them!"

"Yeah, but they only want to help..." The tiny Digimon said not sure if the whole thing is a good idea.

"Don't worry... I know they are my friends... but this is something I want to handle alone..." Daisuke replied, and then proceeded into his sleep, shutting off any more questions.

**

* * *

A/N:** As the plot thickens, I may or may not know what I will be doing, so if there is any OOCness then I would be happy to hear them with feedback. 


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Unexpected delays came, but it's done now.

* * *

Some time has passed, and while Daisuke is successful in hiding his great secrets from his friends, he hadn't got the chance to write his story, and it troubled him because writing was the only way he let out his emotions. Today he was determined to get another chapter written down, he just wanted to. It was his ultimate excuse to get away from the real world.

Daisuke walked out of the restroom of his school, he had used this as excuses just to get away form his friends this time. He didn't want to use it, but given the circumstances, he needed to get his time alone. Just as he was about to walk to his hiding place, he heard a friendly voice.

"Daisuke!" Said a cheerful voice from Takeru that was behind Daisuke.

Daisuke didn't respond, he continued walking away, and faster at that. Takeru called him again, but he Daisuke walked even faster, not paying any attention to Takeru's calls, and once he turned around the corner, he ran. Running out of sight was his goal now; he didn't really have much to talk to Takeru about, so he was better off just running. As he ran through the hall, he noticed a familiar figure walking out of an intersection and this made things all the worse. _Not now..._ he thought, having an even greater need to hide now. As he ran by this figure, he then picked up his speed to full and went to a suitable hiding place, ignoring her calling when he passed her.

At last he had found peace and solitude once he went out of the school, at least out here he would have less chance to encounter someone that knew him and he would just go to a more secret and hidden place to continue his work. Making sure that no one followed him, Daisuke sat down and pulled out his pen and the notebook to start writing again.

**Chapter 3: The Goggle Boy**

Takato dropped onto his bed; it had been one exhausting adventure. It worried his parents greatly that he didn't come home for one night and he himself felt terrible to be honest. He would still have to face reality tomorrow, and it would be hard to see Juri after all that's happened. It was then Takato thought up of the perfect excuse: He would just rush home after school for a few days and tell his friends that his parents need him at home. No sooner, he went into sleep not trying to think anymore about the night.

The next morning came, and the sun shined over the city of Shinjuku, giving light over the city.

At a certain house, Ruki woke up with ease and immediately got ready for school. To her, it was just another day to go through with the current problems around her. Still, yesterday had proved to be a little more then just a boring day because of that little rescue mission. Not worrying about yesterday's events, she was all ready for today and she rushed out of her house, calling to her grandma that she was going to school. When she was on her way to school, she was thinking for a bit about yesterday's events that didn't seem to make sense to her. Ruki didn't know what prompted her to think about that, because it was over and done with, only that question that Takato asked her began to come up again. _What was Gogglehead thinking?_ She thought continuing her walk and then stopping for a second. She then realized that she was thinking about Takato, and there why was she thinking about him? There was no reason; she decided to drop the thought completely as she continued her way to school.

School had not been much of interest for Ruki; she hated the way that things were done in her school as well as the uniforms. There was nothing really interesting in school, and now Ruki's thoughts went back to the night before, since it was about the only time in a long time since she did do something that involved action outside or even Digimon. Continuing through the dull school day, Ruki was trapped between going through the school lectures that gave boredom or think about the night before. _This is stupid..._ Ruki thought, she was sure last night's adventure was nothing more then just an odd task. Besides, she was Takato's friend; it's not like that she would leave him rotting when he needed help. The agonizing hours finally came to an end when school was dismissed, and Ruki couldn't be happier for the freedom from totally boring or stupid thoughts. Ruki raced home and immediately switched out of the confining school uniform. For the last while of time Ruki had not really been seeing any of the other tamers because there was nothing really much going around; but that was about to change today, Ruki decided to take a small walk outside for a change instead of dealing with school work.

Rushing out, she told her grandma that she was going out like always, and as soon as she leaves the house another presence came into the scene. The fox figure followed Ruki behind in a faint matter, with the lack of action during the past times Renamon followed Ruki anyplace and maybe finding something of interest. Even if it wasn't for that purpose, Renamon is a valuable friend to Ruki in whatever situation and that was enough to keep boredom away from mind. Ruki did not know where she would be headed, so she just walks to where would be a good place to take a break. Soon the Tamer and her Digimon found themselves wandering into a familiar park. It was no surprise, this was the park where Guilmon hid and probably where all the other Tamers gathered after school. As Ruki was walking into the park, she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Hi Ruki!" Said Juri's voice, waving to Ruki.

Ruki let off a small smile, Juri was one of her best friends among the Tamers. It had been awhile since Ruki saw Juri, and it was certainly more comfortable talking to Juri because she was happy and peaceful.

The two of them sat down somewhere not too far away from where the other Tamers, since they were playing their games anyway. There was a brief period of relaxation as Ruki had almost forgotten the peace with her friends. _Friends..._ Ruki thought, perhaps it had been too long since she met up with any of the other Tamers. The silence was slowly broken as Juri started a conversation with her friend.

"Ruki, it's been a long time" Juri started.

"Yeah. Nothing much has happened" Ruki replied, and it was true. Nothing much to her interest at least.

"What have you been doing then?" Juri asked, knowing Ruki probably didn't have much to say about the normal life around her, so it was probably better to see if Ruki herself have any recent experiences. While the other Tamers played their card game, Guilmon was off with Culumon playing their various games. Takato had been present at school today, but he had to come home as soon as school was out, and his friends understood him. The park itself was at a peaceful state since there was hardly anyone present there except the group.

"Nothing at all. Nothing interesting, except maybe a little hide-and-seek game for a friend yesterday..." Ruki responded, not mentioning to who that friend might be.

"Oh! I almost forgot! You and Jenrya were out searching for Takato... how did you guys find him?" Juri asked, knowing full well from Jenrya today at school about Takato's state from before.

Ruki did not respond immediately. It was obvious by now that someone, or namely Jenrya would tell Juri about the whole thing. "Well, I found him hiding around in a park. Don't know what's the deal with him, but he's fine... after I forced him out of his dream world that is..." Ruki trailed off, it was satisfying that she was able to do something, even if it was just a short scene involving the Gogglehead.

Juri looked downwards. There was some guilt taking over her now, she knew exactly why Takato did what he do. It was almost entire her fault that it happened too. "Perhaps... I was too harsh when I called him a monster..." Juri let out, letting her guilt wash over her.

It made sense to Ruki now about the whole _"monster"_ that Takato had mentioned earlier. So that's what Gogglehead was talking about... Ruki thought, knowing more about the situation that happened. She also noticed the self-guilt that Juri was putting herself in, so she spoke again.

"Don't worry about it Juri, that Gogglehead just doesn't know how to handle things himself" Ruki said, not wanting to have Juri in a downcast mood.

"But..." Juri started, but only to be interrupted by Ruki.

"It's fine! Gogglehead won't think of you any different just because of this" Ruki injected.

_Why are we talking about that Gogglehead anyway? _Ruki wondered, not finding the topic very appealing. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by some foot-steps that drew near as she was thinking. She looked in the direction of the foot-steps and found something even more displeasing then the conversation, it was Ryo.

"Hey Ruki! You're not going to join the others with their games?" Ryo greeted her, with a smile as he entered the scene.

There was a silence afterwards. Ruki had now wished that the conversation gone on instead of having this kind of intrusion. Juri did not know really what to say to Ryo, so she just stayed quiet because she noticed that Ruki was about to do something to Ryo if he stayed any longer.

"Well... what's going on? C'mon, speak to me I don't bite" Roy started again, not knowing what would happen or what Ruki might be thinking of doing.

There was another moment of silence, Ruki did not want to speak and it was getting very uncomfortable with both a conversation and a person that's not wanted. Instead of letting the silence go on, Juri quietly broke the silence.

"We... were just talking about a friend..." Juri said, keeping in mind Ruki's feelings too about the subject of their conversation.

_Friend, hmm…_ Ryo thought, putting together all the information and getting to understand the situation. He observed Juri and Ruki are talking alone and away from the others, which gave him a fair good idea on who they might be talking about. It was then he jumped to a conclusion even knowing full well that it would have not been wise to say it.

"Ah! I get it, you're both in love with Takato and you two are competing for him..." Ryo said proudly. Although he wasn't sure of the exact situation, he certainly isn't completely uninformed. He did notice how Takato was around both Ruki and Juri, he figured it out.

Juri said nothing to Ryo's statement, at least not after the recent events that almost seemed to be over. Ruki did not like Ryo's comment at all however, and noticing Juri was once again fading away because of the rather stupid comment that basically rubbed salt into an almost mended wound. _Great, it was bad enough that we happened to talk about Gogglehead, and now this Roy has to show up and stick his nose everywhere! _Ruki thought, as she balled up both fists, letting her anger erupt and slowly she stood up. It was right here that Ryo knew that his words were meant to be kept to himself.

"Listen, Ryo! Why don't you just mind your own business? And I am not in love with that Gogglehead!" Ruki said, with poison in her voice, looking towards Ryo with fury.

Ryo was going to say something else, but not wanting to get too far with the Digimon Queen he shifted away from that location and towards the place where the other Tamers are playing cards.

_Even after all that time, he still acts the same... _Ruki thought, as her anger subsided from the sight of Ryo leaving. She turned back to Juri, and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, which got her attention.

"It's alright, don't listen to that Ryo" Ruki assured Juri, and restored her smile. Ruki returned a small smile; their friendship had always been a strong one.

With everything past for that scene, Ruki began to leave, she did not want to stay around as long as Ryo was around especially after what he just said. Juri turned around and waved to Ruki once more.

"Ruki, are you leaving?" She asked.

"Yes, I can't stand Ryo... but I will see you tomorrow" She finished, and waving back to her friend. It felt refreshing to talk to Juri again; after all she was always happy and gave out an aura of happiness. Content with the outside time, Ruki started to head home, not quite paying attention to which route she would take.

As Ruki continued home, she wondered how the conversation back ended up talking about Takato. Juri was her good friend, and it would be normal to listen to her concerns, even if it was about Takato. Today was different though, whenever the subject of Takato came up, Ruki had a very unusual feeling. She didn't know what the cause of it was; perhaps it was the encounter last night. The feeling is dismissed quickly by Ruki however; it was just a small feeling of worry.

Renamon had observed the whole scene from the shadows, and as she followed Ruki back from the park she was wondering about the conversation herself, she knows that there is much to learn from human emotions and reactions. Following closely but quietly behind Ruki, Renamon did not want to disturb Ruki while she was in thinking or maybe just a feeling of uneasiness.

Soon Ruki noticed she was in front of a familiar looking bakery. Of course, this was Takato's place. The feeling of worry rose again inside Ruki, and it had bothered her enough that she would go on home now and forget about today as tomorrow approaches, also hoping that the ridiculous feeling won't rise up again.

After some more time passes, the night was approaching and the sun was setting. The Tamers had said their good-byes, while Hirokazu and Kenta was happy to see Ryo, the legendary Tamer had to part ways with them. Guilmon went back into his shed, fast asleep while Culumon wandered around town trying to have more fun.

"Man, I don't believe it, why would Takato just run away like that?" Hirokazu said to Kenta, who was walking with him as they exited the park. Apparently both Kenta and Hirokazu were eavesdropping on Jenrya and Juri when they were talking and learned about the whole event too.

"Well... I think I saw him with Juri the day before" Kenta replied, recalling that he had seen Takato go up and talk to Juri.

"Oh really? What happened there? Why didn't I see it?" Hirokazu said to Kenta, getting excited all over.

Kenta backed away from the excited Hirokazu, it was not that much of a big deal that Takato talked to Juri... or was it? "I didn't see the whole thing, but when the conversation ended, Takato walked away looking pretty down." Kenta replied, getting ready for any sudden reactions that Hirokazu was bound to make.

"Ah ha! I see! Takato got re-ject-ed!" He shouted, jumping to conclusions.

Meanwhile, at the bakery that was not too far from Hirokazu and Kenta, a sneeze was heard.

"Oh... I hope I didn't catch a cold" Takato said, as he refocused on another one of his drawings with his homework underneath the drawing paper.

Back outside, Hirokazu and Kenta slowly made it to the bakery. While passing it just by a bit, they both stopped and looked at the building itself.

"You think Takato had to go home early because his parents are worried about him?" Kenta asked, as they wondered what their friend might be doing today at home.

Hirokazu thought for a moment, and then came up with his reply. "Yeah, I think so. He's probably held down because his parents care so much about him. Well, he's just a baby that's all" Hirokazu said, and shortly followed by a series of laughter from himself and Kenta. They continued their way home, and unknown to them was another sneeze from inside the bakery.

The door to Takato's room opened, and Takehiro came in and looked at Takato. "Son, you've been sneezing since you came back from school today, are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I am fine. Nothing is wrong" Takato replied, and going back to his drawing instead of his homework. Though uncertain, Takehiro eventually left the room, and as soon as he closed the door Takato was left in thought.

_Ok, so it's not like I got sick... so then why am I sneezing so much? _Takato thought, then in a moment's time and he figured it out. _Hirokazu and Kenta... I should have known... oh right, I almost forgot... Guilmon is probably dreaming about his bread!_ Takato got up from his room and quietly sneaked down, taking bread with him as he was about to leave the house. Of course, his mother catches him very soon. Takato knew she was looking at him and her face gave him the answer of 'no', but he took off anyway.

"Takato!" Yoshie yelled, as Takato ran out with the day-old bread.

-----

Daisuke looked over his work, another chapter of his emotional thoughts have been completed,_ soon... _he thought. Soon he would be liberated from his troubling emotions.

Just at that moment the other students started to rush back into the school, the break was over. Seeing as classes would start soon, Daisuke got up from his hiding spot and started to walk towards the school himself too, until something hit him. In his mind, the image of Hikari showed up and immediately he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

"Ugh! Worst timing ever..." Daisuke muttered to himself as he picked up his bag and Chibimon popped out, seeing Daisuke's distressed state.

"Daisuke... is something wrong?" He asked.

"No... Everything is alright..." Daisuke replied, putting his pen and his book away.

The rest of the school day wasn't much better for Daisuke, he did not know why that thought had even entered his mind, but it did. After the few agonizing moments passed, Daisuke rushed home faster then before, it was ridiculous that he let one single thought hold him down, but at least he would use that as motivation to complete his story.

Meanwhile, still at the school grounds after school were Hikari, Takeru, Miyako and Iori. They had noticed Daisuke's "change" lately, and they could only wonder what caused such a change.

"I can't believe that Daisuke! He just ran by like a maniac and ignored me!" Miyako yelled, obviously she did not like the way Daisuke is.

"Hmm, it does seem strange... I called him today and he didn't reply at all, it's like he didn't hear me" Takeru added.

There was no conclusion to be made at that moment, no one knew what was going on inside Daisuke's head, and since they start to see him less now it's harder for them to even find out what the problem might be. Hikari and Iori could not believe Daisuke's change either, but they were here just to have fun, so they decided to drop the topic for now.

**

* * *

** For the last part of that written story (the sneezing), it is a superstition in Japan where if someone talks behind another person's back, the person that has his/her back talked to will sneeze. Also, I have no idea how Ryo really is, so if there is something that goes way out of place, please let me know. 


	5. Chapter 4

* * *

Chibimon slowly looked for an exit as he crawled out of Daisuke's bag. Daisuke had just thrown the bag down on the floor of his room as he entered his room from after school. Falling down onto the comfort of his own bed, he let out a sigh of relief. Daisuke had no idea whatever possessed him and put in that thought into his mind, turmoil raged inside Daisuke. _What is this?_ Daisuke thought to himself, very uneasy from the flood of emotions.

By now, Chibimon had jumped out of Daisuke's bag and moved towards his partner, seeing his distressed state.

"Hey Daisuke, are you sure nothing is wrong? You look like you've just lost your best friend," The small Digimon said, still wondering why his partner would be in such a horrible state. "Hey Daisuke! Are you there? At least continue your story; it looks like it's starting to get interesting."

With the hint of the story, Daisuke turned his head towards his Digimon; his face did not look like he was crying or anything. In fact, it just looked like he just fell asleep. Daisuke slowly sat up on his bed, and then got up to reach for the notebook with his story. Daisuke trusted his partner, and giving Chibimon the permission to read his story, on the condition that the small Digimon would not say a word about it to anyone else.

Sitting down at his table, Daisuke took out his pen and opened the book to the newest page, ready to write the next chapter, while Chibimon watched him. Daisuke looked just like his normal self when writing his story, full of energy and alive just like how everyone expects him to be. Chibimon is the only one who can see him "alive".

**Chapter 4: Friends**

Takato ran towards Guilmon's shed, if there was one last thing he needed to do today it was giving Guilmon some bread. Takato's parents knew about Guilmon since what happened in the past, but of course he was still a little too big and much trouble to keep in the house. Takato arrived at the shed, hearing Guilmon asleep he slowly went in and almost immediately, Guilmon jumped towards Takato happily yelling out "Takatomon!"

Tumbling over, Takato let go out the bread that he held, and slowly got back up from the impact. "Guilmon... don't scare me like that..." Takato said in response, still glad to see Guilmon after a day's worth of absence. _For some weird reason, Guilmon just does not move when he is asleep, but when he smells bread he jumps right at it..._ Takato thought, sitting right next to Guilmon and seeing him enjoy his bread. After spending sometime with Guilmon and paying attention to actual time of day, Takato headed home just in case if his mother was about to call the police.

The night approached soon with Tamers all around the Shinjuku area either going to sleep or just staying up doing homework that was untouched since after school. Takato went to bed and laid there, he had made it through another day. It was a rather weird one; he had never imagined a day where he purposely avoided his friends. _Friends..._ he reflected on that word, he had always valued his friends, but why run away from them? A mixture of emotions flooded over Takato, causing confusion over himself and his friends. He could depend on them right? They were after all, his friends. Even Ruki was willing to search for him when he got lost in his own world, so why is he so uncertain? Of course, the root of the problem seemed to revolve around what Juri said before.

_I guess I cannot leave the situation with Juri hanging like this anymore... _Takato thought, realizing his uneasiness' primary cause is his struggling emotions from the day before and the ugly 'm' word that he was referred to. Another thing that had bothered him was the fact that Ruki was the one to wake him up from his trance during that day, it was no surprise seeing Ruki, but normally Takato would have maybe expected Jenrya to look for him instead. All the thinking troubled Takato, so he tried to sleep instead. Although without much success at first, sleep found him eventually after a few hours of twisting and turning.

Dawn broke through the city; a brand new day had started. Takato rose form his bed, still tired from the events of the day before. Maybe today he would go talk to Juri, and hope that everything works out the way he imagines. After getting out of bed and preparing himself for the school day ahead, Takato ran out the door in his tired state. Arriving at school, he did not bother with meeting with Hirokazu and Kenta that morning. Right now, he had too much to think about how the day would unfold, and how he would make it through.

Although at the moment it was already off to a bad start, Takato imagines that Hirokazu and Kenta are probably going to question him about not meeting up and then come to some random and wild conclusions about him. Somewhere near the school, Hirokazu and Kenta were indeed playing their card game as usual.

"Hey, I wonder where Takato might be" Kenta said, noticing the absence of their friend.

"Oh you know, probably just crying over his Juri!" Hirokazu replied, keeping his own assumptions.

Back at the school, Takato immediately sneezed at the same time._ I hope it is not them again... _Takato thought, getting to his class early. It was almost nothing for Takato's classmates, but for Name Asanuma it was somewhat of a surprise that Takato would come to class early. After a few moments later, school had started and Hirokazu along with Kenta arrived just before time was up.

"Hey! Takato! Where have you been?" Hirokazu asked, as he and Kenta sat down on their seats.

"Nowhere..." Takato said, putting his head down from tiredness.

Hirokazu and Kenta did not bother to figure out why Takato is all tired and just decided to leave him alone. While normally Takato would sometimes draw pictures of Guilmon, he did not feel like drawing today. Instead, he just set himself up in a comfortable position where he would look like he is listening to the boring lecture. One thing that Takato was able to notice in his tired state was that Juri did not seem to be avoiding him like before. As some time passed, Takato began to hear some whispers; from where he sat, he could clearly tell it was some messages between Juri, Hirokazu and Kenta. Not that it mattered to him, but pretending to listen to a lecture was boring, so Takato shifted his ears to hear in on the conversation.

"You have that card too?" Kenta's whisper came out.

"So what does this type of card do?" one of Juri's whispers flowed out.

"Well, ask Takato for that one, since he uses that card the most..." Hirokazu whispered, looking down at his own cards.

_Great... so now I am being pull into this as well?_ Takato thought, not hearing a whisper from Juri.

"Takato!" Juri said again in a louder whisper but not loud enough to catch attention from around the classroom.

"Huh?" was Takato's response in his worn-out state.

A light sigh came out from Juri; she could tell that Takato was very tired so she made it quick. "Are you going come out with the rest of us today?"

"Yeah..." Takato's weak reply came out as he let his head fall down. _Juri acts like as if nothing happened, guess this will not be as hard as I thought..._

Break time came, and during this time, Takato felt better and walked about the school, seeing if Juri was around. As he was walking out of the school, he heard a friendly voice call out from behind.

"Takato?" called out the voice.

Takato turned around to see Jenrya and Terriermon standing against the wall. Jenrya looked a little shocked at how Takato looked, and paused a little before speaking.

"What happened to you?" Jenrya asked, as Terriermon examined Takato himself.

"I couldn't sleep last night" Takato responded, still a little tired especially after having to sit around in class.

"Oh, you were probably thinking about Ruki and Juri..." Terriermon said, letting out a small chuckle. Only later to receive a nudge from Jenrya for him to stop.

Takato himself would have said something to defend himself but at his current state, he did not bother to think of anything constructive to say. "Yeah whatever" came out and he continued his way out.

"Are you going to be all right?" Jenrya asked as Takato started to head out of the school.

Takato responded, "Yes, see you after school".

_After school?_ Jenrya thought, unsure if Takato's condition would fit for the type of things the Tamers did after school, especially not the way Hirokazu and Kenta does things. Time passed and finally the moment of salvation came: School was out! Takato sure was feeling a whole lot better even with the lack of sleep. Running through the outside freedom area, Takato joined his friends into some card games and some fun running around with their Digimon in the park. Juri was not present because she stayed behind in school to get extra help with homework.

The fun time had to end when Hirokazu and Kenta had to leave because of other plans they had. This left Jenrya and Takato with their Digimon at the park, wondering what to do next.

"Well, that was entertaining" Jenrya said, having actually enjoyed the moment with their games. It had been a while since the Tamers got together and did something since there was hardly any activity since Locomon.

Takato still wanted to speak to Juri, but since she was not present, it posed a problem and said nothing when Jenrya called to him. "Takato!" His friend called again, waking him from his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry" replied Takato, not paying any real attention to his surroundings.

"What's wrong with you? You thinking about your girlfriends?" asked Terriermon, teasing Takato again.

"No! It's just that..." Takato trailed off, he really did not know what to say.

"Takato... is this about Juri?" Jenrya asked, knowing that his reaction time is not from the fatigue.

"Y-yeah..." came Takato's weak reply, admitting that Jenrya had hit it right on the spot.

"I knew it!" Terriermon said, proudly raising his ears.

"Terriermon!" Jenrya said, giving his Digimon the notion to stop. Jenrya continued, "I've talked to Juri about that Takato, of course she didn't mean what she said, it was just that we had gone through a lot. Don't worry about it"

"Ok... thanks..." Takato responded.

"Anyway, I think I am going to go home now, nothing much to do. Moreover, Takato, try getting some sleep. You really could use it," Jenrya said, starting to leave. Takato and Guilmon waved them as they left, Takato appreciated that Jenrya had always been a friend and tried to solve his problems. He led Guilmon back to the dug-up hideout and stayed there a little bit, enjoying the company of his own Digimon friend. Guilmon had stayed a friend to Takato, even throughout the hardest times, Guilmon would always make Takato smile and the two of them would do whatever they find fun. _Friends..._ again, the word reflected within Takato's head, he had plenty of friends who are willing to help him._ What should I do for my friends?_ Wondered Takato. It seemed stupid that he would think about that question, but lately to him it was all about taking instead of giving. He wanted to do something, something that would help a friend in return for their troubles. Takato got up and left Guilmon for now, he would take a brief walk and return later after thinking about his friends.

The sun was still up, Takato's friends left early, leaving him time to think about the past few days. As Takato walked down the steps, he tripped and fell on the ground. While it had not been a good day for Takato, he did get the attention of someone that heard his fall. Getting up he looked into the figure that stood before him, and Takato regret to have tripped.

-----

Daisuke dropped his pen and stretched as he took a short break; writing was no challenge to him as long as he knew what he was writing. As he rested, he heard a knocking at the door. Daisuke ignored the knocking as he enjoyed his rest; he knew who was knocking at his door. His family was not at home, so if he didn't open the door his friends would leave him alone. With the thought in mind, he closed his eyes and took a longer rest. The silence was broken when the door opened after some more knocking.

"Oh, hello Hikari, Takeru" Said Jun's voice greeting Daisuke's friends.

Daisuke immediately shot open his eyes, he didn't even know that Jun was home and she just opened the door to let his friends come in. Worst of all, it was Takeru and Hikari, which made things worst. Not losing another moment, he sprang up from his chair, causing a loud noise that awoken a sleeping Chibimon beside Daisuke's side when he was writing his story.

"What's going on Daisuke?" The tiny Digimon asked, unsure of what's happening.

"Takeru and Hikari are here! What am I going to do!?" Daisuke shot out, looking for ways to hide as Jun welcomed the guests inside the house. Daisuke opened the window, and then surveyed the height; it would not be a good idea to hide through the window. It was then that he heard some faint footsteps getting closer to his room.

"Daisuke, maybe you should just---" before Chibimon finished, Daisuke grabbed him, along with his story and pen and put them into a small bag. Very quickly, he opened a portal to the Digital World on a nearby computer and held his Digivice, opening his escape route along with his needed things as knocking sounds came.

The door opened and Jun along with Takeru and Hikari stepped in. By then, Daisuke had escaped to the Digital World with his Digimon and story, and the portal on the computer closed, leaving no trace of him behind.

"That's strange; I thought he was home..." Jun said, remembering that Daisuke entered the house but not taking notice of her.

"Oh well, maybe he went out already" Takeru suggested.

"If he turns up I'll let you guys know I guess..." Jun said, still not sure on how Daisuke disappeared so quickly.

"Thanks" Hikari said in response to Jun.

Arriving at the Digital World, Daisuke and V-mon landed on a quiet forest area. V-mon turned to his partner, finding Daisuke's behavior a little hard to deal with now.

"Daisuke! What was all that about?" V-mon said in an impatient voice.

"I still can't let those two know about this V-mon, just not now..." Daisuke's voice trailed off, still settling down from the excitement of nearly been caught by his friends.

"Why can't you just trust them? They're your friends aren't they?" V-mon asked not satisfied with Daisuke's answer.

"I... can't... not this... please, just don't tell anyone..." Daisuke responded, walking towards the most peaceful place and sitting down to continue his story.

V-mon only let out a sigh as Daisuke continued writing his story. He would not dare to betray Daisuke, but the situation just looks like his partner needed help very badly. Yet still, V-mon knows close to nothing about human emotions, so who was he to judge? V-mon walked over to Daisuke and sat down beside him, it was at least nice to have bigger feet to walk on as V-mon.

------

Takato hoped it wouldn't have been this time, but she just had to come by at his state.

"Gogglehead, what are you doing?" came out the normal voice of Ruki.

"Uhh... nothing, what are you doing here?" Takato asked, not having much to say now.

"I am waiting for someone. So where are your dumb friends?" Ruki responded.

"They aren't..." was all Takato managed to process out as Ruki interrupted him.

"Forget it..." Ruki interrupted, causing a silence between them in the park area. Ruki looked towards the silent sky; it had been awhile since she got out of her house and enjoyed the outside life.

Takato stayed quiet, this was an unexpected encounter, but he was not sure if he should leave or stay. Then again, Ruki did get him out of that situation two days ago, and he is thankful to Ruki for that. Takato knew that if Ruki were waiting for someone he would have best to leave while he still can. As he started to walk away, he felt a restraining force at his wrist; he turned around to see Ruki holding him down. _Huh? What is Ruki doing? Does she want me to stay? _Takato thought, not knowing what the situation calls for.

"Ruki..." Takato started, hoping that she will not be angry.

"So Gogglehead... what was that all about?" Ruki asked, almost sounding like and interrogation.

"Huh?" out went Takato's usual stupid response.

Ruki let out a sigh before continuing, Takato made it obvious that he did not understand what she say saying. "That night, what were you thinking?" She asked again, almost impatient.

"Oh, that? Well, I just..." Takato trailed off, he really did not know how to explain it to Ruki, it was about Juri after all he could not hide his mixed feelings now.

At that same moment, Juri ran around the corner and saw Ruki standing there. She was just a little late, but at least Ruki was still there. Juri walked a few steps closer and Takato was visible on her vision as well, she stopped. _Takato and Ruki are talking right now... _she thought, and then she looked around to see that there were no other Tamers around. _Huh? No one around? Just Ruki and Takato? What are they doing?_ Questions formed in Juri's mind, but she could not understand what was going on. Instead, she would wait until Takato or Ruki leaves to get with Ruki again.

"It's about Juri isn't it?" Ruki said, knowing well of his situation.

Takato did not say anything, now that Ruki knows about it; he is not looking forward to how she might react to the whole thing. There was no one around, not even Ruki's friend that was supposedly coming.

"I can't believe you would actually be like that after talking with Juri" Ruki started again, breaking the silence between them. Takato kept silent, he knew Ruki was right, even though she had not seen him lately she could tell that he was just not himself. Ruki then turned around, walking off to another location.

"Ruki, do you think I am a monster?" Takato asked once more.

Ruki stood still in her position, and then breathed out another sigh. _I wonder why I bothered with him..._ she thought for a moment then responded. "Look, Gogglehead. That was the past, we all know Megidramon is done and over with. Juri just got a little scared. You can't change the past, so just leave it" Ruki responded before moving again.

"Thanks..." Was all Takato could muster; he did not know what else to say about his friend that tried to help him in her own way.

Ruki did not stop in her movement, but not turning around so she could hide the slight bit of redness on her face. She never took compliments well.

Takato slowly walked away from his position and back up to Guilmon's hut. Although he did not really do much, he was still grateful of his friends that continually give him the support he needs. It was not something that Takato had looked at often because he was usually the one offering help, but perhaps if he would get some rest from today it would do him some good.

Juri slowly emerged from her place, approaching Ruki. The two girls greeted each other, and sat down on a clear grass area to talk about their own business.

------

V-mon shook Daisuke once again as he finished his writing of the chapter. V-mon knew by instinct that there is danger that would come by, but Daisuke was too busy writing to notice V-mon.

"What! Can't you wait until I have finished my chapter?" Daisuke responded to V-mon's last shake.

"I hope you are finished with the chapter, because soon we'll be finished!" V-mon said, pointing to the horde of Monochromon that is running in their direction.

Without wasting a second, Daisuke grabbed everything he needed and started to run away with V-mon, not wanting to get trampled. They were unsuccessful in running away from the horde and Daisuke quickly took out his D-Terminal, and used the Digimental of friendship.

V-mon digivolved into Lighdramon, carrying Daisuke on his back and running away from the mad horde. After some running, seeing a higher ground, Lightdramon jumped up and surveyed the situation on what was making the Monochromon run. The two of them looked into the back and saw its source, an enraged Vermilimon.

"Alright, let's do this!" Daisuke yelled as Lightdramon jumped off and attacked with Lightning Blade. The Vermilimon stopped in its tracks and looked at Lightdramon and Daisuke, the red Digimon was similar to that of the Monochromon, but red in colour and tougher skin, ultimate level. Vermilimon launched Volcano Strike S, which Lighdramon dodged. Lightdramon used Lightning Blade again, but got interrupted by Vermilimon's Hard Tackle. Crashing onto the ground, Lightdramon reverted to V-mon, and Daisuke picked up the small Digimon and started to run again.

Now the Vermilimon focused on chasing Daisuke and his V-mon, who was coming to. Daisuke continued running, but soon the Volcanic Digimon caught up, and Daisuke tripped losing all hopes of escape.

"Oh no!" Daisuke yelled out, as the angry Digimon now stood in front of him. Daisuke had to think fast, and he reached into his pocket, drawing out his D-Terminal again. _Oh well, now or never!_ He thought, activating the Digimental of courage. V-mon digivolved to Fladramon and immediately took this chance to attack with Fire Rocket, knocking Vermilimon back.

When the red Digimon got back up, it charged towards Fladramon, and Fladramon jumped and pounded the side of its head, knocking him over. Vermilimon got up quickly again, opening his mouth for another attack, which was interrupted by another Fire Rocket from Fladramon, and the explosion left Vermilimon back into a normal Monochromon. Daisuke picked up the dedigivolved V-mon and carried him; it had been a long day for them. It was time to go back to the real world.

Meanwhile, Izumi Koushiro along with Takeru, Hikari, Iori, Miyako and Ken were relaxing at a picnic and relaxing a bit from the school day. Koushiro noticed a strange happening in the Digital world.

"What is this? It looks like some sort of battle?" He said, unsure of what was going on.

"Battle? In the Digital world?" Takeru asked, coming to join him, and soon the others gathered around.

"I don't know... it seems to be going around... huh? It disappeared!" Koushiro said, noticing the red surge of energy gone from the screen.

"That's weird, what could it be?" Ken said, curious at the situation. It was then Koushiro noticed a Digi-portal opening on his computer.

"Whoa! Digi-Portal opening!" He said, jumping out of the way as with everyone else.

A flash of light came out of the screen, and two figures jumped out, crashing into the ground, coughing.

"Oh, this day couldn't get any worse. It was just a simple trip, and then came the Monochromon and Vermilimon, could things ever get any worse?" Said the voice of a human.

Chibimon slowly got up, noticing all the other Digidestined around them, and he turned to Daisuke.

"Yeah, it could get worse when you have to explain everything" The tiny Digimon said.

"Huh?" Daisuke said, looking up to see his friends surrounding him with confused looks. "Ehehe... hi guys!" Daisuke managed to say.

* * *


	6. Chapter 5

* * *

It did not take very long for Daisuke to explain his "story" of his purpose in the Digital World. The evidence that appeared on Koushiro's screen was enough to prove it. Even though half of Daisuke's story was a lie, his friends bought it. Daisuke joined his friends into their picnic and put up his "mask" to let the world know that he was "normal." 

Although Chibimon knew all too well about Daisuke's current condition and just could not understand how he could act so differently at different time and different places. "Daisuke, I only wish you could tell them..." The small Digimon uttered, not being able to do anything.

"Hey, what's up? You don't seem happy," Patamon said, noticing Chibimon sitting alone.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing..." Chibimon replied, getting up from his position and walking back towards the group.

"Hmm, something didn't sound right..." Patamon said to himself, not knowing what is going on.

"What's not right?" Asked Tailmon's voice that approached Patamon.

"I don't know, but it looked like that Chibimon was sad..." Patamon replied, still having his eyes on the small Digimon who still was a little sad.

"Maybe he's just tired from the battle, taking down a strong ultimate like that does take work," Tailmon said, thinking that the situation cannot be that bad.

"I hope you're right..." Patamon said in response, still not sure if that was the main cause.

After saying good-bye to his friends, Daisuke carried his things and walked home. The sun was almost down, but he managed to get home before the sun completely went down. Chibimon had fallen asleep on the way home, and Daisuke placed the Digimon in his bag and threw everything down as he got home. Going into his room and taking another small break, Daisuke lets his Digimon sleep in his bag since it had been a long day. He looked at his notebook and pen that he placed on his desk, his thoughts and feelings running around now that he is away from his friends.

_Another day has passed... I wonder how long I can keep this up... maybe Chibimon is right, perhaps I do need help... wait, no! I won't! This is not something they can help me with..._ Daisuke thought, sitting down on his chair and looking over to see his clock. There was still hours to come before sleeping, so Daisuke picked up his pen and opened his notebook to the fresh page.

-------

**Chapter 5: Turmoil**

A pair of eyes traced upon Takato as he went back up to Guilmon's shed. These sharp pair of eyes spotted the little conversation between Takato and Ruki. Since it was still early, the eyes closed and retreated for now.

At the other part of the park, Juri and Ruki started to talk.

"I am sorry I am late" Juri started, as she smiled.

"It's fine" Ruki replied, sitting down to relax from the earlier "conversation". She did not really understand why her face heated up when Takato said his thanks.

Juri looked around and noticed that none of the other Tamers was around. She wondered why no one was around because this hour would usually be the busiest for the Tamers and she wondered why Ruki waited for her even when everyone left. Of course, she did not want Ruki to know that she had spied on their little talk from before, so she thought her wording carefully not to bring up Takato for now.

"Hey Ruki, where is everyone?" Juri asked, hoping to start a conversation with her friend.

"They all had their own business to attend to, so they left early. I just arrived and then you showed up" Ruki said, making up the lie at the last part.

Juri knew that last part was a lie, and now she did not know what to say. _Why would Ruki lie to me? And what should I say?_ She thought, almost thrown into panic. Juri had not intended to have this meeting with her friend wind up like this, she was thinking of something quick that would get them talking, but what? Juri's silence was broken when Ruki started to speak herself.

"What have you been up to? Were you busy with school today?" Ruki asked, sensing Juri's uneasiness and trying to soften the tension.

"Oh, yeah. I was just getting help on some homework that I didn't understand. So that's why I was late. What about you?" Juri replied, still happy to be with her friend.

"Everything's been boring at my school, there's nothing much these days, even with Digimon around. Although Gogglehead was..." Ruki said before stopping. It was out, now that she mentioned Takato in this conversation, and now it is bound to wind up somewhere uncomfortable._ Great... why'd I have to mention his name at a time like this?_ Ruki thought, regretting that she brought the subject of Takato up.

For a moment, there was a silence, and Juri was only thinking of how to speak so that Ruki would not get angry, but Ruki never got angry with Juri. Most of the time it was either with any of the other Tamers, but mostly with Takato. There was no way to get out of this mess though, and Juri had to say something, even if it meant getting negative responses.

"Ruki, what were you and Takato talking about just a little while ago?" She starts, hoping that Ruki would not do something unpleasant. There was a silence when Juri had asked that question, and Ruki did not respond to her question. Instead, Ruki stayed motionless for a moment, Juri had to come up with something else to say.

"Ummm, Ruki... I'm... sorry that I..." Ruki interrupted Juri when she put a hand on her shoulder and Juri looked over to see that Ruki was smiling.

"No, I am sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you" Ruki assured Juri. A sigh came from Ruki before trying to speak again, this one was a challenging situation to fix. For the next few agonizing minutes, Ruki spoke careful words about the earlier conversation with Takato and hope that it was no big deal with Juri.

"I see... I guess I should apologize to him..." Juri responded, not aware of what is happening with Takato.

"No need, I am sure he will understand overtime" Ruki replied to Juri, and perhaps getting away from the subject of Takato. For some reason, she was trying not to have her face go red. It was weird, and it was all because that Takato had gave her a compliment earlier? No, it was something that Ruki did not understand and just denied the cause.

"Well, Ok... should we go somewhere then? I think I can use a little snack," Juri said, standing up and offering Ruki to come with her for a walk throughout Shinjuku to find a good place to snack. Ruki had nothing to do, so she accepted the offer with smiles and the two of them went on their way form the park.

Takato went back to Guilmon and stayed with him a little. It had been a weird type of day for him, friends being everywhere and many things seem to be going back to normal. Takato slowly closed his eyes inside Guilmon's shed, since Culumon came in and wanted to play tag. The time passed, and a shaking slowly awakened Takato.

"Hmm? Guilmon?" He said, opening his eyes and looking around to see that everything was just as it was before he slept.

"Takatomon, you were sleeping all this time," Guilmon said, looking at his sleepyhead Tamer.

"Huh? Oh! What time is it?" Takato said, standing up and looking outside to see that he had fallen asleep for quite sometime and now the sun was going down. Turning around, he stretched a little bit and picked up his school bag.

"Well, looks like I gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow Guilmon" Takato said and quickly went on his way home. "Bye bye" Guilmon replied, waving off to his Tamer as Takato started to run home.

_Looks like I was really tired... oh well, have to go home and complete homework now... _Takato thought, as he ran through the park and ready to leave. Just as Takato was running through, the pair of eyes spotted him again. This time, it snuck around in the bushes and followed Takato's direction. Takato continued to run, but he slowed down a little to catch his breath. As he slowed down to a walking pace, he could hear some rustles from the bushes, but he thought it was just some wild animal and ignored it. When he was almost out of the park, he heard a large rustling sound from the bushes to his left. Turning in that direction, Takato looked to see that the rustling has stopped, and he looked to the opposite side, seeing if there was anything strange happening. It was at that moment when he felt a giant force from his left side that knocked his entire body over and into the floor. Takato looked back to the direction from before to see what or who had knocked him over in such a surprising manner. Right there standing over Takato was a human figure.

"Who... are you?" Takato asked, noticing that his attacker wearing mostly dark colours that looked like ordinary clothing around the Japan area. In addition, this figured covered his face with some sort of mask that was also black, concealing his identity. His height was a bit taller then Takato himself and just about the same build, but it was hard to determine for Takato as the figure's clothing was so weird that it may have made him look more muscular then he appeared.

For a moment, there was silence between the two. Takato was filled with worry as he looked upward to the mysterious figure that looked down onto him with whatever reason. The mysterious attacker then let out a small laugh while looking at Takato's horrified face.

"Hmm. I don't think you remembered what I said earlier..." started the dark figure, its voice striking Takato's ears like sharp ice.

"What are you talking about?" Takato replied, standing up and facing the figure.

"I've told you before... stay away from Ruki or else you will face the consequences..." Spoke the offender.

"What? So it's you... what do you want anyway? Are you some kind of stalker? What--" Before Takato finished, the mysterious entity reached out a hand and grabbed Takato by his shirt's collar and lifted him a little bit from the ground.

"That you do not need to know... And let this serve as your last warning..." Takato's attacker said, clenching a fist with his other hand and was ready to launch at Takato. Takato closed his eyes and waited for the pain, but a voice interrupted the scene.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Asked a voice from a further direction, and slowly emerged with Terriermon on his shoulders.

The offender looked over to see Jenrya right there with his Digimon, knew that it was time to retreat. Lifting Takato a little bit higher from the ground, he then let go, dropped Takato to the ground, and proceeded to leave the park area, turning around once to speak his final lines.

"You got lucky this time, but next time you break the rules, you're going to face the consequences..." trailed off the attacker and running out of the park with high speed, muttering to himself "Must be his friend..."

Jenrya walked over to Takato to check on him. After a few breaths, Takato was normal again, sitting on the small wall on the side he closed his eyes a little bit and tried not to think of what just happened.

"So what happened back there? And--" Jenrya was interrupted by another voice that emerged from the opposite direction where he came from.

"And who was he?" questioned the voice of Ruki as she joined up with the other two Tamers. She was not able to catch the whole event, but when Renamon spotted the dark figure dropping Takato and running off, she came over to see what was going on.

Takato was grateful when Jenrya intervened to stop the attacker, but now pressure rose again with Ruki in the picture. How could he tell them? With Jenrya, it would be easier since it is just the two of them, but since the subject of the encounter with the stranger was about Ruki, Takato must think of some sort of cover-up that would not involve explaining the actual situation. Who knows how Ruki would react if Takato told her that the whole mess is about her.

"I... I don't know..." Takato managed to say._ Alright, that's a start... now what? Think! Think!_ Takato thought, as he tried not to think about the whole thing. In fact, he just wanted to get out of there and just lie in his bed after putting up with his homework.

"What do you mean you don't know? Some random guy just attacked you for no reason at all?" Ruki asked, obviously not buying Takato's lie.

Jenrya did not say much now, thinking about the things around the event and who might their enemy be.

"I really don't know... I only asked him who he was and he went all aggressive" Takato managed to say, hoping that Ruki would buy the true and half part of the confrontation.

"Well, whoever he was, we have to be careful. We never if he may attack anyone of us" Jenrya concluded from what he knows so far from seeing the confrontation.

"Right. So what else did he say, Gogglehead? You are hiding something aren't you?" Ruki continued to press onto Takato, knowing that there may be something more he was not telling her. Waiting for a moment with no response, Ruki tried again, "Hey! What else are you hiding Gogglehead?" She asked, trying to interrogate him. This made Takato very uncomfortable, he could not say exactly what the attack was about, and if he did, Ruki might not even believe him. Luckily, for Takato, Jenrya intervened for him again.

"Hey, I think that's enough. Takato's had a rough day; we should just let him rest now..." Jenrya said, rescuing Takato just in time.

Although Ruki was not satisfied, she quietly and slowly left, thinking to herself that she will squeeze the information out of Takato some other time. _Wonder what's up with that Gogglehead... hmm, why am I thinking about him anyway? Or why did I rush over to him after that event?_ She thought. _Whatever, no use thinking about it right now..._

"Ruki, are you feeling alright?" asked her loyal fox Digimon from the sides.

"Yes, Renamon" Ruki replied, continuing back home with her Digimon. However, her thoughts influencing her, Ruki ended up walking the wrong way and noticed that she walked near Juri's house instead. Looking up, she realized her friend's house and stood there for a moment. After some more waiting, she went up and knocked on the door, seeing if her friend was home. After all, it was not like that her mom or grandmother would make a big deal if she came home just a little later.

Takato felt relief wash over him as Ruki left the scene; he barely managed to make it out alive. Jenrya lent out his hand to help Takato up, and they walked to Takato's house together, talking about the recent event.

"So really, what was all that back there about?" Jenrya asked, while Terriermon listened in.

For the next few moments, Takato had explained about the confrontation earlier on the night that Ruki "rescued" him, along with what the unknown figure said the first time around and what happened in full detail of the second encounter.

"She wouldn't believe me even if I told her the truth. In fact, it might have angered her further with that subject..." Takato finished, this matter was certainly more comfortable to share with his friend.

Terriermon began to snicker, and eventually spoke. "Looks like someone is actually jealous for your girlfriend!" he said, starting to laugh.

"Hey Terriermon! Stop it" Jenrya said, knowing that Takato is not in the mood for such jokes.

Takato himself felt his face go red and his heart jumped a little, but managed to keep himself together. Thanks to the fading sunlight, it hid Takato's redness on his face as he continued to walk with Jenrya towards his house.

"Well, it certainly does look like someone is trying to stalk her, but we don't know for sure. He may even be a Digimon, although I didn't try to look him up, seeing you about to get pounded" Jenrya finished, still trying to figure out who the attacker might be. They stopped at Takato's bakery, and Jenrya waved to Takato as he went in. "Anyway, be careful from now on."

"Yeah ok, be careful on your way back, just in case if he strikes again" Takato said in response and waving back.

"Don't worry, I can handle them, there's nothing scarier then Ruki when she's mad..." Terriermon joked, and the three of them laughed for a short while.

That night, Takato was working on his homework and not minding anything else. He had resisted in drawing in his notebook for now, his homework proved more challenging then he imagined. Everything was fine for Takato because he was in his room with a nice temperature and it was quiet. _Man, why does this work take up so much time?_ Takato thought, not liking the time ticking away from his clock. His silence was disturbed when a giant flow of information all went through his head at once. These included thoughts of school, his friends, Ruki's talk and then the attacker. Takato grabbed his head, unable to concentrate because of the sudden mind explosion. _Who was that person? And what does Ruki have to do with all this? Ahhh! This doesn't make any sense at all!_

-------

"Well, this is good for now I guess..." Daisuke said, finishing off the chapter. Daisuke continued to think through the events of the day that just passed, and how he lied to everyone.

_Oh well... I guess it can't be helped with the situation I am in right now..._ Daisuke thought, closing out the lights of his room and flying down onto his bed and falling asleep instantly.

The morning came, and Daisuke woke and packed his stuff with him, going to school with a still asleep Chibimon. Once at school, the usual started. Boring classes, long sit hours, everything. Of course, what is worse was that Daisuke could not concentrate because of his tiredness over him._ Man... I think I used up too much energy yesterday... Oh man, does the teacher ever take a breath? He's been talking for the whole class! _Daisuke thought, slowly feeling his eyelids falling on him, but hid mind woken up again when the bell to a short moment of freedom rang. Gathering his things, Daisuke went out of his classroom, hoping that he would find a good spot to rest undisturbed. He was only concentrating on finding a spot for rest that he did not hear someone was calling him.

"Daisuke!" Called the voice again. Daisuke stopped in his tracks and looked back. His eyes widened, this was a very bad time for her to show up. _Ugh! Why now?_ Daisuke thought, as he felt a hard pressure crunching on his heart like a Devimon squeezing him between the claw hands.

"What, Hikari?" Daisuke finally managed to say, despite the tight feeling.

"Daisuke... what's in that notebook of yours?" Hikari asked.

_What!? When-how did she find out? Did Iori tell her? Uuuuh, what should I do, think Daisuke, think! _Daisuke told himself, unsure of what to do at this time.

"Daisuke? Is something wrong?" Hikari asked, while Daisuke was still struggling to find a solution to get out of this mess. Just then, the solution entered his mind, and he immediately used it. Daisuke faked a look behind Hikari on her left side, faked a smile, and faked a wave. "Hello Takeru!" His fake voice said.

Hikari turned around, but did not see Takeru anywhere. When she looked back, Daisuke was gone as well.

* * *


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N:** It probably will not be anytime soon, but with the way things are outlined, I think the fic may change rating sometime (still undetermined). Not soon, but perhaps near the end.

* * *

Daisuke ran as fast as he could to get away from Hikari. Luckily, his little scene got him the needed time to run away completely from Hikari's sight. After running out to the school, Daisuke settled down behind a tree, catching his breath. 

Chibimon slowly crawled out of Daisuke's bag; being awaken from the bag shaking was not comfortable for him at all.

"Daisuke! You're making it way too obvious that you're hiding something from your friends..." Chibimon protested, seeing Daisuke's stress.

"What am I suppose to say to them? And how did Hikari know about this book?" Daisuke finished, still catching his breath and a mixture of pain and anger stirring inside him.

Chibimon only sighed in response, he could only wish for a way to help his partner, but he could not think of anything to help.

School resumed shortly after Daisuke took his break. After another few agonizing moments, another break came, and Daisuke rushed out so fast out of the school and into another one of his hiding places to escape his friends. On some other location of the school, Iori and Hikari discussed about their friend.

"I tried talking to him earlier about that notebook, but he just sort of ran away..." Hikari said, not sure about the attempted conversation with Daisuke earlier.

"Hmm, perhaps he could be hiding something secret in that notebook of his" Iori said, suspecting Daisuke's notebook.

"Secrets? Like what?" Hikari asked, thinking more about Daisuke's reaction rather then what he hid.

"Who knows, it could range from anything like a dairy entry, love letter, school work, and all sorts of other things. I don't know, just guessing. I suppose he's just changing for the better. Although it would be good if he talked to us a little more" Iori concluded, deciding not to press the matter too much.

Daisuke burst open the door to his room, setting down his notebook and bag, then falling onto his bed to rest himself. _That was too close..._ Daisuke thought, he knew he wasn't going to last much longer against his friends if he keeps up his mask. Struggling out of his bed, Daisuke went over to his desk and began writing another chapter of his story, releasing his stored emotions of chaos and disorder.

**Chapter 6: Uncertainty**

Juri had invited Ruki into her house. Juri's father did not need to be on the defensive side with friends like Ruki, he was glad that Juri had some other friends besides the usual Takato, Jenrya, Hirokazu or Kenta. The rooms around the house were brightly lit and the area was generally clean.

"I am glad that you could come by" Juri said, very happy to spend time with Ruki.

"I have nothing much to do at home anyway" replied Ruki, finding herself comfortable with her friend.

The two of them made their way to Juri's room later and Ruki taught Juri more about Digimon card and battles. They were unaware of the time and when Ruki looked at the clock, she knew she had to go.

"I've been here too long, I really have to go now" Ruki said, losing track of time was not something that happened to her often.

"But Ruki, it's very late now. Perhaps you could just phone home and stay over and we'll get up early in the morning if you need anything," Juri suggested, knowing it would be extremely dangerous to go outside at this time of day.

While handing the phone to Ruki, Juri went to her parents to ask them about Ruki staying, and to her luck, they agreed. Ruki had no luck in calling her house, as her mother was likely to be busy somewhere else or dating while her grandma would be asleep by this time.

"Whatever, I'll explain everything to them once I get home tomorrow morning," Ruki said to herself, hanging up the phone. After that, Juri came in with a sleeping bag and unrolled it for Ruki; they quickly shut out the lights and lay down to sleep. Ruki was appreciating Juri as a friend and everything around her just seemed better then before. _I wonder what Renamon is doing right now..._ Ruki thought, remembering that her Digimon is outside somewhere. After some more thinking, Ruki slowly drifted off to sleep trying to forget about the day's events.

Renamon stood just outside the room, occasionally watching over her Tamer and understanding more about humans in general. She was glad that Ruki had opened up to her friend over time and that there would be friends that Ruki could trust.

As morning broke out, the two of them woke up earlier, ate breakfast in a happy rise, and went out earlier. After Ruki went back to her house to get ready, Juri started to walk towards her own school. As she walked through the park, she could hear rustling noises that seemed to follow her along. Whenever Juri turned around to look, the noise would die down and there would be nothing but maybe the occasional morning breeze. _This is strange... is something behind me?_ She thought, not knowing the pair of eyes that locks in on her. Picking up the speed, Juri started to run and noticed the rustling form somewhere was increasing too. Getting annoyed by the pursuer, Juri turned around and called out.

"Alright, whoever you are, just..." Juri stopped, the rustling in the leaves from behind are gone, and she could only see Jenrya.

"Juri? What's all this about?" Jenrya asked. He had recently walked into the walk, getting some fresh air while noticing Juri.

"Oh, sorry. I felt like someone was following me from the bushes" Juri replied, relieved to see a friend.

"From the bushes? Then it must be him..." Jenrya said, knowing exactly who the attacker is.

"Him? Who? You know who's behind all this?" Juri asked, still a little apprehensive from the chase.

"Yeah, he's the guy who mysterious attacked Takato last night and another night once" Jenrya replied, continuing walking with Juri towards the school while keeping alert for any other signs of the stalker.

"Last night?" Juri responded, with more concern for the strange happenings.

"Yes, and after school, we're all going to gather for a meeting. I suspect this may even be a Digimon, so we should be alert whenever," Jenrya warned, as the two of them walked into the school with just a few moments to spare before class started.

Juri sat down and listened to the lecture. After a span of time, she can hear whispers from Hirokazu and Kenta talking about the Digimon card game again. Tuning out the whispers that cost her misunderstanding from an earlier topic before, Juri averted her attention elsewhere. She turned a little and then she noticed Takato. The Goggle boy had a very exhausted look and it looked like that any second he would fall asleep.

During a short break, Juri tried to find Takato, but she could not see him anywhere in the school grounds and it worried her because of Takato's state. _Maybe he'll be there during the meeting_ Juri thought, getting back to class and going through the school day. After school, Juri quickly rushed to Guilmon's hideout where the meeting would commence; upon arriving, she saw something that surprised her.

------

There was another knock on the front door, and Daisuke dropped his pen, knowing that this would be another encounter with one of his friends. Daisuke immediately grabbed his D-3, but hesitated and dropped it when Chibimon spoke.

"Daisuke..." Said the small Digimon, knowing what his partner wanted to do.

Giving up on the earlier option, Daisuke closed his book and pushed it away while jumping onto his own bed. He faced the wall by his bed, hoping that whoever would come in would just notice he was asleep and leave.

For Daisuke, things took a turn when the door opened and the figure that emerged spoke.

"Daisuke, you're not really asleep are you?" Asked a gentle voice from the person.

Daisuke's eyes opened wide, it was usually his school friends, but this time it was his best friend. Daisuke immediately sat up and saw his close friend Ken.

"Hey Daisuke, I knew you wouldn't be asleep at this time of day. Anyway, so why haven't I seen you around lately?" Ken said, as he put on a friendly smile for his friend.

"Well, I've been kind of busy with my work; the teachers just never give me a break!" Daisuke said in response very quickly.

Ken did not catch the uneasiness from Daisuke since he had not been aware of his "notebook business".

"You certainly look that stressed out, so why don't we go out to the soccer field or just some place where you can cool down? I don't have school tomorrow, so I've got plenty of time before having to return to Tamachi," Ken offered, seeing the tension within his friend.

Daisuke stopped to think for a little while. _Should I? Or should I-- No! Ken is my friend, I can trust him! _Daisuke concluded and said his response.

"Yeah ok! Let's go!" Daisuke's response came, quickly running outside almost leaving Ken behind. Seeing as how Wormmon wasn't present, Chibimon figured that it would be good to leave the two of them for their break. Throughout the day, Ken and Daisuke walked around Odaiba and watched all sort of things, including visiting their friends. The day was filled with joy when everyone noticed Ken's appearance. For Daisuke it was an excellent opportunity to show all his friends his mask and that he was still his old self. Daisuke later came home very exhausted after doing many things and eating many things. He opened the door breathing, and Chibimon noticed Daisuke's humorous atmosphere.

"Daisuke, what did you do?" Chibimon asked, never seeing Daisuke so joyful in a long time.

"Oh nothing... just went around and... and... talked a lot, ate a lot..." Daisuke said, very contently sitting down on his chair again. Later, he reached out, grabbed his notebook along with pen, and began his writing once more. Chibimon had been eating a bag of chips Daisuke hid under his bed and was nearly as content as his partner was, so he just sat down and watched Daisuke write.

------

Jeri was stunned by the way that Rika had her school uniform on; usually Rika refuses to be seen in such clothing.

"Umm, Rika?" Jeri asked, having Rika turn to her friend's attention. "Are you..." Jeri began, only to be interrupted by Rika, who knew exactly what Jeri wanted to ask.

"No, the meeting just had to be scheduled so early that there was no time! I am going to make myself clear, if those idiot twins make any comment, they will not live" Rika stated, leaning against the wall and closing off her eyes.

At that same time, Kazu and Kenta came around the corner, and seeing Rika they spoke and they were put into their graves. Just about a few moments later, Henry rushed to their location and noticed that Takato was missing.

"Hey, where's Takato? We need everyone to be aware of this," Henry said, seeing Kazu and Kenta nearly dead.

"Whatever, just go on. He's the one involved so he should know already. Besides, I've got other things to do" Rika said coldly, the longer she had to be in her uniform the worse she felt about being around others.

Henry gave in and started to explain about the whole situation about Takato, and interrupted shortly when they hear somebody popping into their meeting. The invader was no other then Ryo, who rushed to their location after overhearing Kazu and Kenta about the important meeting. Before Henry continued talking, Ryo made a bravery-worth comment to Rika, which earned him a great smash that dug a hole deeper then Kazu and Kenta. Soon after, Henry concluded the current conditions.

"Hmm, I think there was something similar in the Digital World that would follow you around..." Ryo said.

"Really? So it is a Digimon then?" Henry asked.

"Highly possible, I felt something like that, but... it never did any harm like what you described. Anyway, I'll be around to see what I can do" Ryo replied, having to leave because of unfavourable time constraints.

Meanwhile, after school Takato was racing home from school. It had been another night that he couldn't sleep. Not after being attacked for a second time, even though he knew there was going to be a meeting about it, he thought it would just be better to avoid outside for a little and just rest. Upon leaving the school grounds and into the park, Takato noticed rustling again in the bushes nearby. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked around, could the stalker or Digimon be out looking for him now? Breathing a few more times, Takato took off at a faster pace, as the rustling also came after him at a faster pace. Takato did not stop running until he reached his house, even though the rustling had stopped when he ran out of the park. Storming into the house, Takato ran upstairs in his room ignoring his parent's calls. Lying down on the soft surface, relief covers him._ I wonder what's going to happen, and why he is trying to harm us..._ Takato thought, unsure of the stranger's actions. His father came into the room and interrupted his thoughts shortly after.

"Son? Is something wrong?" Takehiro asked, seeing Takato laying down to rest.

"Yeah... I am just tired..." Takato replied. For whatever reason, he was afraid to tell his dad about this problem.

After being given some peace on his own, Takato took his time to rest up a little. When he awoke, the light outside had disappeared, and wind has been blowing in to make his entire room chilly. Takato got up and closed the windows, then proceeded to out of his room but only to see his attacker when he opened the door.

_No way!_ Takato thought, flinching backwards in surprise as his attacker at his house and right at the entrance of his room.

"Soon, you will cease to exist... and all your friends shall be mine. Including Rika..." Said the stranger.

"Who are you! What do you plan to do with Rika or any of my friends?" Takato replied in defence.

The dark figure only laughed at Takato, fully giving chills throughout Takato's body like piercing swords. "That is not for you to know!" He replied, putting a palm right into Takato's face.

Takato then felt darkness envelop him, causing everything to fade in his world.

"No!" Takato yelled as he woke up from the horrifying dream. He breathed heavily as his mind took notice of reality. Looking down at his hands, they were sweating as much as his own face. _What's... going on? Is that guy really a Digimon?_ Takato thought, still frightened from his dream. Looking over, he reads that clock and notices only one hour has passed since he had that dream.

After calming himself down, Takato sneaked downstairs and stuffed some day-old bread into his pockets. Takato then ran outside and headed towards where Guilmon would be, knowing that the meeting is over long ago. He figured he would keep Guilmon company for today and forget about the bad dream and the attacks. Stopping at the entrance, Takato called out to his friend.

"Hey boy, I am here!" He said, waiting for a surprise attack from Guilmon. Only Guilmon came out slowly, apparently waking up from a nap.

"Takatomon?" Guilmon said, forming a huge smile, as he smelled the bread.

Takato left the bread for Guilmon, and then patted his friend as Guilmon ate the bread. There was very much-relaxed environment outside with light breeze, along with serene scene. Takato was only bothered by why his friends are nowhere to be found at this time of day, but with the current events going on, we didn't mind the quietness. The scene was interrupted when a flash appeared and a yellow fox Digimon appeared.

"Takato, Rika is here to see you," Said Renamon, standing up and looking at the bread-eating Guilmon.

Takato felt a sudden rise of tension, but he knew it would be better not to keep Rika waiting. He got up and quietly went out the shed to see Rika while Guilmon noticed that Takato was leaving and Renamon now leaning against a wall.

"Well, where were you, Gogglehead?" Rika asked, standing just at the bottom of the rocky stairway out of Guilmon's "house".

"Ummm, I was kind of tired... so what'd you want to talk me about?" Takato asked, with uneasiness surging as Rika looked at him with a not-so-pleasant face.

"I've heard about that night-stalker... but I know there is something more then what Brainiac tells us all," Rika said, walking with her back to Takato and giving him the message to follow her.

Takato was thinking at a fast pace, it was obvious that Rika was not going to let him go until he tells her every detail about this strange event. And he had to come up with a plan fast or Rika is going to squeeze it out of him instead. _Hmm, what should I say? _Takato thought, only interrupted be Rika shortly after.

"Are you listening to me? Gogglehead!" Rika shot at Takato, breaking his thoughts, but not before he made up a detour in what he was going to say.

"Sorry..." Takato said immediately, knowing it was not smart to ignore Rika. Ever. "Well, on the first night of attack, that guy said he was going to destroy us all. And then during the recent attack, he said something about terminating our Digimon. I just don't know..." Takato finished, hoping that Rika would buy his story.

"Hmm, so it is probably a Digimon then... perfect! It's been awhile..." Rika said to herself, knowing that there was going to be some entertainment. The two of them walked back to where Guilmon and Renamon would be. Quietness filled the air while Takato kept his ears on hearing any rustling noises. To his surprise, there was no noise at all even when they arrived back.

Renamon appeared in front of the two Tamers, and Guilmon emerged slowly after Renamon. Rika turned away and started to walk away, finding interest in some possible action with the new enemy.

"Rika, wait! I'll come too!" Takato said, very unaware of what he said himself. _Ok, so why did I just say that for?_

"You? What good will it do? Your friend would only stick out" Rika replied, not even stopping and continued her way.

Takato sighed; there was no way he could help in this situation. Once again, he was interrupted by a strange noise, and turned around to see Guilmon playing Calumon. _Oh well, I guess there is nothing to do now but just wait to see if Rika can handle this... but will she be able to beat this Digimon alone? Maybe I should try to help her, but how? _Takato wondered as he started to walk out of the park. Suddenly, the bushes started to rustle again, and by instinct, Takato knew it was time to run. Only this time the rustling noises seem to be catching up to him in a much faster pace. He increased his own pace, hoping that he would outrun the noise, but the rustling only persisted and went faster as well. When Takato would finally be out of the park area, a fast figure came out and grabbed him by the wrist. For a brief moment, Takato froze in fear and then slowly turn around. His fears slowly faded away when he turned around to see Rika.

"Rika? What's going on?" Takato managed to say, still in a little shock.

"What's going on? I am about to ask you why you were running away so fast!" Rika replied.

"Well, usually when the enemy attacks, he hides in the bushes and moves around that there is much noise" Takato explained. "So why'd you follow me?"

"Because, this stranger attacked only you so far, so if you're around, then he might just attack," Rika reasoned.

"But wait, Ahhh!" Takato said, as he was pulled from the wrist by Rika and dragged off.

The two Tamers walked around; unaware of the real predator that was watching them afar with caution.

As Takato and Rika were walking around looking for details, they were unaware of two other figures that saw them.

"Hey look at that!" Said the first figure, very much like Rika in size.

"Oooh! Rika actually has a boyfriend?" said the other, who was more or less the same size and height as a typical eleven-year old girl.

"I don't know, but maybe Rika does have a soft spot somewhere. We should tell everyone about it sometime, Yuuko" Started the first figure again, still having her eyes set on the pair that walked around the park looking for clues.

"Just make sure she doesn't overhear it, Chikako," replied the other, as they quietly sneaked off giving off small laughs as they went.

Takato and Rika had searched the place through, occasionally hearing some rustling but could never find out if the actual stalker was there. The time went by and the sun had gone down, they went back to Guilmon's hut again. Rika kept insisting on staying in on searching since Renamon had almost seen something in the nearby areas as they walked through. Still to no avail, the only thing that kept Rika interested was Takato's comments on the stranger.

"Looks like that coward left" Rika said, disappointed to see that their target was always hidden. "I'll find him sometime, he can't escape..." Rika said as she left the scene, leaving Takato time to breathe.

_Phew! Rika sure gets caught up whenever it comes to Digimon... but still, it's strange that someone like that would be hiding around..._ Takato thought, looking down at Guilmon and Calumon eating some bread. After bidding the two Digimons good-bye, Takato went on his way out of the park in a rather slow movement. _Perhaps if I walk slowly and around the park I can avoid being seen…_ Takato thought, unaware that the enemy is watching him at the very moment. As Takato neared the exit, he let out a breath of relief, thinking that he had avoided getting into a confrontation this night. He was proven wrong when he saw a slight motion from the corner of his eye. Turning around, he immediately noticed a punch being thrown at him.

-------

Daisuke put down his pen, looking over the story as Chibimon nudged him.

"Hey Daisuke, why'd you stop there? It was getting exciting!" The small Digimon jumped, excited by the last part of the chapter.

"I am not worried about that right now... there is obviously something wrong with this last part..." Daisuke said, not quite getting to what the problem is since he wrote the last part of the chapter lightning fast when he got back from his friends.

"Oh? Let me see" Chibimon said, skimming through the last part of the story, then he noticed something was not the same. "Hey! I got it! You introduced too many new characters at once. See? Characters like **Jeri**, **Rika**, **Henry**, **Kazu**,** Calumon**, Yuuko and Chikako!"

Daisuke shot up and smiled, knowing that Chibimon noticed his mistakes. "There! You see, that's what I was getting at! While Yuuko and Chikako are intended new characters, the others are not! **Jeri** is supposed to be **Juri**, **Rika-Ruki**, **Henry-Jenrya**, **Kazu-Hirokazu**, and **Calumon-Culumon!** I should have never played that game with them..." Daisuke said, setting himself back down into his seat.

Chibimon flew back at Daisuke's sudden outburst, and although scary, he knew it was nothing to concern himself with, except the last part.

"Daisuke? What did you and Ken do while outside taking your break?" He asked, hoping to get some answer.

"Don't ask... Somehow after playing that game it seriously got my brain to think the wrong way..." Daisuke replied, reaching for a bottle correction liquid to change the names back. Chibimon knew that whatever Daisuke played with his friends was something not to worry about and went off to sleep as the day closed.

**

* * *

A/N:** The two characters mentioned in the Tamer story are OCs, nothing much special about them, so just imagine them to be typical schoolgirls. 


	8. Chapter 7

* * *

For the next two days, Daisuke had refrained from bringing his notebook to school just to put on his mask in front of his friends and fool them. It was then on the third day, that Daisuke went off as school finished and tried to run home again without being noticed. As fate would have it, when he ran around the corner to the last set of stairs down, he slipped on a hidden spot of water and started to fall down the stairs. Falling down, Daisuke endured the pain on the first impact, then braced himself for the second impact of rolling and then a third impact that he also fell into. Finally, a fourth impact came as he landed on the bottom floor facing the ceiling. His yelps of pain was not unnoticed as Iori, Miyako, Hikari and Takeru happened to be walking on the hallway, hear Daisuke's pains and drop right in front of their eyes. 

Daisuke slowly opened his eyes to a blinding light as he opened his eyes and sat up, surveying the room to tell where he was. It became clear to him that this place was the nurse's office.

"Looks like you're awake!" Called out a voice from the entrance. Daisuke turned to see Takeru, offering a smile to him.

"Hmmm" Was all came out form Daisuke.

"Hey, are you alright? You sure got yourself in trouble there" Takeru started, taking a seat near Daisuke.

"Yeah I am fine, just a little bruised up" Daisuke replied, noticing his pain from bruises was on his right cheek and some from his side of his right shoulder.

"Well then, let's get you home shall we? Don't worry about your bag, Hikari took it to your house along with Chibimon." Takeru said, offering a comforting atmosphere for Daisuke.

"Yeah thanks..." Daisuke managed to say, letting Takeru lead him out of the school and back home.

Arriving at home, Daisuke went straight to his room and lied down on his bed, taking a small break. Chibimon climbed up and tapped Daisuke, seeing if he was alive.

"Man, so much for getting home undetected, at least they know that I am out for awhile" Daisuke said, releasing a sigh of relief.

"Daisuke, what about the story? I want to know what happens next!" Chibimon said, jumping at the bedside.

"Yeah, I'll be onto that in a moment..." Daisuke replied, still relaxing from the strange day. Chibimon fell asleep on the desk waiting for Daisuke, and when Chibimon fell asleep, Daisuke got up from the bed and sat down to write again.

**Chapter 7: Surprises**

Hirokazu and Kenta sat down on their seats, they had made it on time to class for once, even though it they were only 1-second away from the bell. Juri sat down around the same time, and giving a quick whisper to her two friends.

"Hey, did you guys have any trouble yesterday?" She asked, hoping that nothing would have happened.

At this point, Kenta looked up, noticed a bizarre sight, and widened his eyes as Hirokazu formed his response to Juri's question.

"No problems with me, no scary person is brave enough to face me!" Hirokazu said, very proud of himself. "Say, Kenta you didn't have any problems did you?"

Kenta did not turn to his friends; instead, he was still trying to understand the image he sees in front of him. Still listening to the conversation, Kenta replied, "No, I didn't have any problems. But I do know that trouble did strike..." then pointed forward.

Hirokazu and Juri looked up front, and they too could not believe such a sight. In front of them was Takato with a large bruise on his right cheek that was dark and Takato himself was not in a good shape either judging by the expression on his face.

For the rest of the class that followed, the Tamers were silent as they looked towards their battered friend with worry. Besides seeing Takato beaten up, his face looked sad which was out of place for his friends. Having the few hours passed, the other students of the class rushed out to enjoy their break while Takato slowly walked out with his friends following close behind. Kenta slowly broke the silence calling to Takato.

"Hey Takato..." Kenta said, hoping that his friend will not be too afraid to speak to him.

Takato stopped walking and turned around to his friends. To their surprise, Takato's face was downcast and in a very grave state. It was no surprise though, as Takato did not do anything wrong, and yet he is beaten up by someone that follows. Hirokazu walked in front of Takato, placing his hands on his friend's shoulders and spoke.

"Hey chumley, it looks like you took a beating huh? Well, bring me along next time and I'll beat that guy up for you!" Hirokazu said, looking at Takato with his usual smile.

"Yeah, I'll help too!" Added Kenta, joining Hirokazu in their little circle.

Takato smiled in response to his friends, he knew they were trying to cheer him up, and it was working. Nevertheless, it was very hard for Takato to cope after the sudden attack that happened last night. It was a simple hit-and-run scene, but the pain that left behind was far beyond what he had anticipated. Takato tried to enjoy the day, forgetting about his pains and getting into trouble with his friends instead. To his relief, the temporary barrier that was between him and Juri was broken, allowing him to find more comfort within the zone of his friends who would support him. After lasting through the school day, Takato and his friends all rushed out and went straight to their usual place in Guilmon's den and instead of card games, they were joining Guilmon and Culumon in game of tag.

Hirokazu and Kenta were walking with Takato as they exited the park, with Hirokazu and Kenta shouting all the way. I don't even think he would bother with me as long as these two make so much noise. Takato thought, seeing his friends rush forward with foolishness. Nevertheless, at least it provided him some cover. The sun was starting to set when they started to walk out from their day. Because of Hirokazu and Kenta's presence, Takato remained unharmed. The period of grace was broken when the three came to a fork where they would take different routes home. Hirokazu turned around and gave another smile to Takato.

"Well, your house isn't too far from this place. Be careful now chumley, and have no fear as long as Hirokazu the great will save us all!" He said arrogantly as they departed.

As soon as Takato separated from his friends, he immediately felt the dreaded feeling of being hunted again; the feeling would not leave him. His house was about just a little bit away, but on the way, there were more then enough hiding places for the enemy to strike. To make his fears become reality, small noises was in hearing-range as Takato walked through the darker areas of town. On impulse, Takato started to run and as he turned the corner, he had bumped into someone. Fear overtook him for a brief moment, but when he realized who spoke, it was all over.

"Hey, Gogglehead!" Said the voice of Ruki, getting up from their bump.

"Ahhh, Ruki..." was Takato's weak response, lately things just have not been very pleasant for him.

Ruki only looked at Takato's bruised part, she had only heard about the attack from Juri, but she had not imagined Takato's condition to be this bad. There was silence between the two until Takato noticed that Ruki was just staring at him. Unknown to Takato the reason for Ruki's staring; he felt his face overflow with heat and looked for a way out of this.

"Ummm, Ruki? Is something wrong?" Takato said confused at why Ruki was still staring at him. His voice did break Ruki out of her stare and redirect her attention to Takato.

"I talked to Juri, and so what exactly happened last night after I left?" Ruki demanded, and trying hard not to let her own face fill with redness after realizing that she was staring at him.

Meanwhile, Renamon kept herself hidden from the two but watched them. She noted the redness that formed on Takato's face and Ruki's holding back from her tone of voice as the two Tamers talked.

"Well, it was just a simple hit-and-run... getting beaten a few times and then he just ran" Takato replied, remembering the scene clearly.

Ruki sighed; it was obvious that the enemy was targeting Takato now.

"That coward... he didn't attack until I left" Ruki muttered, then she spoke to Takato again. "Come with me, Gogglehead" She commanded.

Takato did not know of her plan, but he followed just because it increased his chance of survival. At least for now. _Where is Ruki leading me? Still, at least it's safer now... Ok, now I am just being weird..._ Takato said to himself, following Ruki from behind and hoping that the day would get better. Ruki soon stopped, and Takato stood there, wondering why she had stopped. He looked around the area and finally noticed this place was the outside of his own house.

"This is ridiculous... Hey Gogglehead, from now on you'll be coming with me after school" Ruki commanded.

_What? _Takato thought, not exactly knowing how to react to what Ruki had just said. At the same moment, it was as if Ruki had red Takato's mind on the whole situation.

"If that guy won't show himself, then I will make him show up. I won't let him slip away like last night, so you will be the bait for now. I doubt this Digimon will wait until you are alone then strike again. But anyway, I am doing a little shopping for grandma today" Ruki explained.

"But wait, after school my friends are-" Takato tried to object, but was immediately interrupted by Ruki.

"Tell them that you can't, because this is obviously more important. For all we know, your life could be in danger Gogglehead" Ruki injected before entering the bakery.

Unknown to them were three pairs of eyes watching the whole scene, but in two different teams. One pair of eyes was spying from distance but not too long from hearing-range.

"Alright then, if it's going to be like that, then might as well try that now...," whispered the well-hidden being that managed to hide from Renamon once again.

The other team of eyes was giggling as they watched the scene from afar. Even without hearing what the two Tamers were talking about, they could clearly see that Ruki was up to something and it was worth the gossip.

Takato stood still at the scene for a moment, things for the next few days or weeks would certainly look different. After all, now Ruki would actually be walking him home! Maybe too much weirdness for Takato, but it all makes sense when he pieces the situation together. After all, it may very well lead to a resolution on the attacker and it indeed would be safer since Guilmon was still too big to bring home all the time. After clearing his thoughts, Takato went inside his house from the back. At the same time, Ruki was finished with her purchase, and for some reason Takato began to think as Ruki left. He had gotten over the whole ordeal with Juri already and everything was normal, but now it almost looked like another rise of uncertainty has risen within him. _Hmmm, maybe... nah..._ Takato thought, brushing the faint emotions aside and running up to his room while his mother tried calling to him.

After leaving his bag in his room, Yoshie Matsuda called again, demanding Takato to be downstairs. Of course, since Takato had come home at this time, the bakery would be closing around this time and he needed to help with bringing the bread in and maybe take some for Guilmon sometime later. With not much excitement for the night, Takato went to bed earlier then usual, and for once, there was a little peace for him. It had sure been hard explaining to his parents the night before on how such a large bruise appeared on his right cheek, but he just thought of the excuse to fall off a set of stairs in school because he slipped.

-----

"Hey Daisuke! Isn't that what happened to you?" Chibimon interrupted, after reading the last line.

"Uhh yeah, so what about it?" Daisuke asked, looking up to his partner.

"Well nothing, just it seems strange that you would use the same situation for an excuse" Chibimon replied.

"I just couldn't think of anything ok? It's not like it would make a big difference either... because I can't think of anything else..." Daisuke trailed off, picking up his pen and writing on the paper again.

-----

Takato woke up as the blinding light of the rising sun penetrated his window. _Ok... here goes day one with Ruki... I wonder if this will work at all?_ Takato thought as he got and prepared for the day ahead. Walking along the early streets of Shinjuku, Takato started to think of an excuse for his friends. _What should I say? If Hirokazu or Kenta sees me walking along with Ruki, they are surely going to get the wrong idea... _Takato said inside himself while not noticing where and who he walked into.

"Oh, Takato! That scary person didn't come after you yesterday right?" Asked a happy-going Juri that ignored the bump.

"Ummm yeah, I guess I was lucky" Takato replied, walking towards the school in a hurry afterwards.

_Huh? What is Takato rushing for?_ Juri thought as Takato ran off to the school, the time of day was still early and Takato usually would not have come to school yet. _Does Takato need help with homework? Oh well, maybe he's just nervous about today's test..._

In school, Takato only tried laughing when Hirokazu or Kenta started to break their jokes, but Takato kept them quiet as not to catch too much attention especially around the certain subject. After having to deal with his friends for one day, the final bell rang, and Takato rushed out as soon as he could to get away to attend to his plans. On his way, he happened to pass Kenta, who immediately caught onto him.

"Hey Takato, where are you rushing off to? Aren't you afraid of--" Before Kenta finished, Takato broke free and rushed out again, calling back.

"Sorry, I really can't right now. I am just rushing home so that he won't get me, so I'll be fine, bye!" Takato quickly finished as he sped off.

Arriving at Guilmon's shed, Takato gave some bread to Guilmon that he secretly tucked away earlier in the morning. _When is Ruki going to come? I don't think it would be good to let Hirokazu, Kenta or even Juri seeing this..._ Takato thought, as he waited and hoped that his friends won't show up anytime. In a way, it was weird for him to be feeling so. In a few moments, Takato heard a soft landing sound, obviously belonging to Renamon. Getting up, he went outside to see Ruki already waiting for him and they went quickly out of the park.

_This is weird... very weird... I wonder why I agreed to this plan in the first place... and how am I going to explain my absence to my friends?_ Telling them the truth would get them to think the wrong idea... Takato thought, not knowing he ignored Ruki's call.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" Ruki shot at Takato, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry..." Takato replied immediately, knowing that it was not a good idea to ignore Ruki.

"You'd better wake up, or else you'll trip some time later," Ruki warned, not knowing what was troubling Takato. She walked in a faster pace, giving the message for Takato to follow her. The two Tamers walked in several areas of Shinjuku where there would be plenty of hiding spaces. Renamon was hiding in the shadows where she might catch the enemy, but to no avail. Despite the occasional rustling in the bushes or sounds coming from the shadows, the enemy did not show at all.

"Ruki, maybe there is more then one of them, since if it's a Digimon they might have realized together as a group," Takato said, hoping to start a small conversation in the middle of the silence between himself and Ruki.

"It doesn't matter; Renamon can take this enemy..." Ruki said in response, having full confident in Renamon. "This is getting tiring; we'll take a break here."

Sitting down on a bench, Takato sighed in relief. He could not keep up with Ruki the way she leads him around Shinjuku. Since walking around did use a lot of energy, they were a little hungry. With the tantalizing smell of a Takoyaki stand nearby, Takato and Ruki slowly drew closer for the snack. When they got there, Ruki almost made a scene when she realized she forgot to carry some yen with her, and since they were at the purchase stage of the food, Takato immediately reduced any problems by paying himself. After getting the tasty snack, Takato and Ruki settled down at the bench again.

Meanwhile, unknown to them were Chikako and Yuuko walking about Shinjuku with their free time and window-shopping. They came to a dead stop upon seeing Takato and Ruki resting on the same bench enjoying their break time.

"Look at that! It's confirmed, Ruki does have a boyfriend!" Chikako triumphly said, but not enough for Ruki or Takato to hear.

"Oh, I have my camera this time! Let me take a quick picture" said Yuuko with an energetic response. Aiming at the right time, She captured the perfect picture of Ruki and Takato. The two girls laughed and ran away as fast as they could.

After the short break, Takato and Ruki continued their walk, and eventually the time demanded them to head home, with Ruki walking Takato home. At the time of day, more rustling noises were in hearing-range, but still Renamon could not sense the designated subject nearby.

The next morning came, and Ruki woke up and got herself ready for school. Upon arrival with the sun rising at the horizon, she could notice the unpleasant atmosphere around her as she walked into school. Sure, it had always been unpleasant for her, but on this particular day, it was darker despite the happy sunshine from above._ What is wrong with these people? They look like as if I've done something wrong... _Ruki thought as she walked through the hallways that also seems to be eyeing her for some strange reason.

Passing through the first few hours, the short break came, and it was all the better for Ruki as she could not stand the giggling of the other girls in her class about something. Something that she could not hear because most of them would always bunch together while sharing secrets. Walking through the hall, she happened to cross with Chikako. Chikako gave Ruki a more or less deceiving smile, and this infuriated Ruki.

"What? What are you smiling about?" Ruki said, almost ready to interrogate Chikako as if she was the one to cause the strange atmosphere.

"Oh Ruki... you don't need to hide it. We all know your big secret now, even though you may look cold on the outside, you're really a caring person aren't you?" Chikako asked, knowing from what she has.

Ruki's eyes narrowed a bit, unknown to what her schoolmate is trying to get at. "Just exactly what are you talking about?"

"Oh, you don't need to hide it; it's about your boyfriend!" Chikako happily stated, giving off a bigger smile.

Ruki's eyes opened a little wide from the unusual response, and then replied. "What?"

"I mean this!" Chikako finished, holding up the picture of Ruki and Takato sitting on the bench eating Takoyaki.

Ruki grabbed the picture, looked at it and there was a slight blush on her face. Some emotions of embarrassment came, but soon converted into energy for anger as she crumpled the picture into a ball. At the same time, Yuuko and some friends happened to walk by just in time to see the scene. Chikako stepped back a little, clearly seeing the rage within Ruki.

"Listen up, nosy! I don't know who you sent to stalk me, but you'd better get out of my life. And also, that is not my boyfriend!" Ruki said in a low and silent but indignant voice straight into Chikako. Chikako felt pinned to the wall with fear and could not speak and Ruki slowly exited the scene.

The rest of the day for Ruki went better; she filled the atmosphere with her anger as the hours went by. I can't believe they would do something like that, what's wrong with them anyway? Ruki thought as the last class of the day was ending. Finally, school was out, and she rushed home faster then usual because of her fueled anger. After getting changed, she rushed to the park, where Takato would be waiting. At least there would be less stress when searching or scaring a foe away. Takato stood outside Guilmon's shed, and seeing Ruki in eyesight waved at her.

"Hello Ruki" Takato said, bring up a smile.

"Let's go..." Ruki's impatient response came. Although subject to question later, Takato kept quiet for now as they went on their way. Along the way, Ruki was still releasing her anger into the atmosphere and Takato was gathering just enough courage to speak to her to see if she was all right.

"Umm, Ruki? Is something wrong? You've been awfully quiet today..." Takato said, having an uneasiness caused by the angry atmosphere and silence. There was no answer from Ruki; the word boyfriend had seriously caused her to think about tons of things. Takato spoke again, hoping to get some answer for his friend. "Ruki? Are you feeling alright?" At that moment, Ruki turned to face Takato straight on.

"Oh! Would you just keep quiet for now!" Ruki managed to blurt out, causing Takato to back off in a sudden impulse of fear. At this point, Ruki realized what she has done and softened up a little. "Sorry, schoolmates were being idiots today" Ruki immediately said in a low voice.

"Oh... well sometimes schoolmates can be annoying, but I know you can pull through, I was just uhh... worried" Takato managed to say, hoping that his words would reach Ruki. He followed up what he said with a smile, still hoping that the situation would improve.

Ruki didn't respond, but she knew that Takato was right, and she just gave off one of her smiles in response to Takato. The two Tamers continued their patrol around the city to see what they could find, and unknown to them when they were resting in the park was two pairs of eyes that were poorly concealed. Renamon noticed the presence of the two objects sticking out and decided to check on them. She landed on a high branch, and the two figures did not notice her, but instead they had their eyes fixed onto Takato and Ruki.

"See! I told you Kenta! Takato is meeting up with somebody. And oh, who would have thought that it would be Ruki! Takato really did it this time..." Hirokazu said out loud but was lucky enough that neither Ruki nor Takato happened to hear his voice.

"Umm, Hirokazu you might want to get down and stay a little quieter..." Kenta suggested, pulling down the aggressive Hirokazu as they continued to watch the two from afar. Occasional laughers came out of their mouths as Renamon observed their strange behavior. _This isn't the first time that this happened, two other figures also was talking about Takato and Ruki yesterday... and now these two... What a strange behavior of humans..._ Renamon said to herself, gathering more information on human actions.

Day two ended, as there was nothing much after Hirokazu and Kenta left. Takato and Ruki kept on searching for clues on the mysterious figure. Day three rose at the horizon and this time the sun was covered by clouds that made the sky grey and grim-looking.

Juri entered the classroom just a little earlier to prevent lateness. What surprised her was that Hirokazu and Kenta was also there, they were in a conversation about something. As Juri walked closer, she took note of what their conversation was. Upon hearing, some words like 'date', 'Takato', and 'Ruki'. Juri began to think about what was being said. _Takato and Ruki? Could that be the reason why Takato hasn't been around? _She thought, kind of surprised at the possibility but doubting the source that she heard from.

After a day of thinking, school ended and Juri decided to investigate for herself if the 'rumors' were true. Walking outside, it was starting to rain because of the weather and Juri opened her umbrella to shield herself from the rain. Walking on the sidewalk, she saw two girls that were dressed in the same fashion that Ruki was in that one time, and as they walked by a paper flew out from their bag. Juri rushed to get it for them, but she was surprised upon seeing the picture. It was the picture of Takato and Ruki eating the Takoyaki. At the same time, the sky rained harder and Juri just tucked away the picture and turned around, seeing yet another marvelous sight: The image of Takato and Ruki under the same umbrella.

------

"Alright time to stop!" Daisuke said, stretching himself from his writing time. Chibimon had fallen asleep halfway through his writing and Daisuke noticed the time was about time he should go to bed too. Only when he got up there was a large beep on his computer screen. Upon checking it, he saw a large glow of energy, knowing that it was something serious.

"Chibimon! Wake up, the Digital World seems to be in trouble!" Daisuke said as he shook his tiny partner awake.

"Huh? What is it now?" Chibimon asked, still half-asleep.

"We have trouble, now come on! We have to go check this out immediately," Daisuke said, holding his D-3 by the screen and opening a Digi-port that transferred him and Chibimon through to the DigiWorld.

Landing in the otherworld, Daisuke and V-mon looked around to see what kind of trouble that there was. After walking for about half-minute of silence, large sounds can be heard. Looking to their left, rolling boulders were headed straight towards them. Without hesitating, they jumped out of the way.

"That was a close one..." Daisuke said, as he noticed a shadow over him in the night of the world. Looking up, Daisuke saw a giant metal figure with colours of mostly grey along with some colours of red and blue. On the figure's left side was a yellow hilt of a sword.

Wasting not a second, the giant threw a slamming punch right where Daisuke was and missed by just a little bit. V-mon looked at the figure in the night, and knew what it was.

"Daisuke! It's Knightmon. And apparently he seems to be out of control" The petite dragon said as Knightmon growled at the two of them and pulled out his sword.

Immediately V-mon went through his evolution into XV-mon to stop Knightmon from his attacks with a kick. XV-mon followed it with an X-Laser to the airborne Knightmon, hoping to put him out. After the smoke cleared, Knightmon was nowhere to be seen.

"Did we get him?" Daisuke asked, hoping not to see the angry Knightmon again.

"I don't think so... he may be still around..." XV-mon replied, scanning the area for any signs of Digimon. At that same moment, a berserked sword whacked XV-mon far away from Daisuke.

"XV-mon!" Daisuke yelled out, then noticing the giant Digimon behind him, now with berserked strength. Daisuke could only stare at the anger figure as it raised his sword.

* * *

**A/N:** "Takoyaki" is Octopus ball. 


	9. Intermission

**A/N:** Technical difficulties caused this chapter to be delayed, but it is done now.

**

* * *

Sore Moments**

Daisuke tried to run in his condition, but fear held him down at the sight of Knightmon's rage-filled body. Before Knightmon could bring down the sword, a pink-purple blade interrupted him. The metal Digimon did not move, but instead took his shield and blocked the blade, and swung his sword. Stingmon flew away just before the knight's sword came into contact. Daisuke had taken this opportunity to run to XV-mon to check up on him.

"Hey! Are you ok?" asked Daisuke as he examined the knocked down dragon. XV-mon grunted as he stood up. Seeing Stingmon fighting the giant knight, he knew he had to join the battle. Looking at Daisuke, he gave him the look that told he was ok and heading off to battle again.

"Daisuke!" Called a voice that was running towards him. Daisuke turned to see Ken, who looked worried.

"Ken! You made it just in time" Daisuke said, relieved to see his friend.

"More like just barely, one second later you would have been flattened. Anyway, what is that?" Ken asked, looking at the enraged Digimon.

"It's Knightmon. I don't know, for whatever reason he just started to destroy everything in his path," Daisuke explained. At that same time, Knightmon charged up his sword with electricity and swiped at XV-mon and Stingmon, knocking them back.

Immediately, both Ken and Daisuke knew they could not handle the Knight with just their champion forms. Combining their powers, XV-mon and Stingmon merged into Paildramon. As Knightmon charged towards Daisuke and Ken, Paildramon intervened with Sting Strike. Knightmon did not slow down one bit to Paildramon's attack, swiped his berserk sword in retaliation, and knocked Paildramon away.

"I don't understand, Paildramon should be able to hold his own against another perfect," Ken observed as Paildramon tried getting up.

"XV-mon got knocked around quite a bit before you came, that's probably why they aren't doing so well" Daisuke said, as he noticed that Knightmon was running towards them.

"Then they probably don't have enough power to digivolve aga--" Before Ken finished, Daisuke immediately but in, seeing the Knightmon come into a close proximity.

"Forget that for now! Run!" Daisuke yelled out and the two friends went in opposite directions when the knight Digimon brought down his sword. Daisuke tried to run, but tripped and was hit by the shockwave of the sword impact.

Paildramon got up and rushed to fight again, and Knightmon charged as well. The two came into contact, and Knightmon with his tremendous strength pushed back Paildramon for some length. Before Knightmon could make the next move, a wave of Shooting Stars and Curse of Queen beams blasted at the knight and knocked it back for once. Pegasmon and Nefertimon arrived at the scene with their partners and examining the situation. Knightmon wasted not a second after flying back and started to charge towards the wounded Paildramon again. Both the flying Digimons quickly reacted and used their Sanctuary Bind on Knightmon holding him still just before he reached Paildramon.

"Now! While he is being held down without his shield!" Ken commanded, seeing the opportunity for attack.

Paildramon gathered up some remaining energy and fired his Desperado Blaster, blasting Knightmon down. Defeated, a blurry portal that opened over Knightmon and retrieved the Knight. Reverting, Paildramon spilt into Wormmon and Chibimon, the latter falling unconscious as he fell to the ground.

"Hey Ken, what happened here?" Takeru asked, unknown to the situation.

"Apparently a Knightmon appeared here in a berserk state. For whatever reason I don't know, but the way it disappeared looked like it wasn't of this world" Ken explained, as he looked around for Daisuke. Spotting Daisuke slowly getting up from his fallen position, Ken, Takeru and Hikari rushed to him.

"Hey Daisuke! Are you all right?" Ken said as they approached Daisuke.

"Yeah, everything's... fine" Daisuke replied in an exhausted voice as he walked over and picked up Chibimon and headed back to their world.

While Ken and Hikari continued to ask if Daisuke was ok, Takeru assured them that there was nothing wrong, as they were all tired from the fight.

The next day, Daisuke struggled to keep himself through school, and the walk home was a struggle because of the bad weather. Daisuke tried to smile through the recovering pain from the fight as he reached home. Upon entering his room, he threw all his bags and everything away, taking out his notebook and his pen, where he would enter his own created universe to find peace. Only problem today was that Daisuke mysteriously was unable to write.

"Man, what is this? I can't seem to think of any idea on how to write the next part of this story!" Daisuke said as he leaned back on his chair. Chibimon jumped up and looked at Daisuke's blank paper, knowing that something was holding him back.

"Maybe you got too much on your mind right now, you should just rest. After all, after that battle last night I am ready to sleep for the next year" Chibimon put in, as the small Digimon lay down and closed his eyes to catch some napping time. Daisuke saw that Chibimon's idea might not be very bad, but his emotions said the opposite. There was still confusion and chaos within Daisuke that urged him to write something in order to keep control of himself. Picking up the pen and refocusing again, Daisuke tried to write, but no ideas flowed to his head, only a headache filled his head.

_Ugh! This isn't working out; maybe I should just rest a little... _Daisuke thought, as he put his head down to rest for a little. Slowly and bit by bit, certain images came to mind, memories of the past adventures and fun times. Eventually memories of Hikari came back, and Daisuke tried to open his eyes but his efforts were in vain._ Am I dreaming? Because this certainly isn't a very good one..._ Daisuke said inside his head and he saw the various images flash across his mind. _I don't need to see this...!_

Daisuke woke up with an outburst, looking at the light that was in his room. Relief washed over him as he noticed the images all disappeared.

"Daisuke? What's wrong?" Asked his partner who he awoken with his outburst.

"Nothing..." Daisuke replied, not liking the discomfort given by what he saw.

"Oh, it's got to be about Hikari again right? Com'on Daisuke, you can't just keep those bottled feelings forever," Chibimon suggested, hoping that his partner would not torture himself.

"It's alright Chibimon. I am not too bothered about Hikari anymore, I guess I am just out of it today," Daisuke said, closing his notebook and putting away his pen. Not worrying too much about the rest of the day or homework, Daisuke fell down on his bed and instantly fell asleep again. Chibimon followed Daisuke and fell asleep next to his worn-out partner.

After a brief amount of time, Jun knocked at Daisuke's door. After receiving no response from the sixth knock, she slowly opened the door and spotted the snoring Daisuke. Letting out a sigh, she went back out to tell Hikari that Daisuke was flat dead asleep.

Next day at school, Daisuke walked in and hoped for an easy day with nothing to bother him. His hopes were no longer present when Takeru who just happened to be waiting for him confronted him.

"Daisuke... You haven't been acting yourself lately, are you really ok?" Takeru asked, expecting some sort of answer.

"Yes, I am fine. I was just tired yesterday, nothing to worry about..." Daisuke responded and continued walking away from his friend and running away before Takeru could catch him again.

_Ok, maybe this whole writing business is making me look too strange, so right now I guess I should just find something else to do rather then writing my story right now... _Daisuke said to himself as he seated himself in his first class. School went by as usual with the 'Daisuke' way. From pretending to listen to lectures to pretending to be productive. Break time was a big pretending scene as well, while Daisuke enjoyed his meal with his friends, he just assured them that there was nothing wrong with him and it was only tiredness from before. After school, Daisuke immediately rushed home, he had left Chibimon at home, because when Daisuke woke up Chibimon was still sleeping. Entering his room, he looked to see that Chibimon has awoken and was snacking away at a bag on chips on the table.

"I am home," Daisuke declared, catching Chibimon's attention.

"Ah, Daisuke! You didn't wake me up today!" Chibimon complained as Daisuke set down his notebook and took out his pen.

"You were still sleeping, can't bring you to school with all that loud snoring" Daisuke replied, putting on a grin.

Chibimon only let out a sigh in response, knowing that Daisuke would always deem his actions as correct. Nevertheless, as long as Daisuke was writing Chibimon could get involved into something that they would agree. Today was no different then yesterday though, Chibimon only sees the pen flipping around in Daisuke's hand and nothing happening.

"Hey Daisuke, what's wrong? Why aren't you writing?" Chibimon asked, being confused as to why Daisuke does not write after staring at the paper.

"Well, the problem is, I don't know what to write about! I think I have an idea on how the story, but I just can't seem to write" Daisuke replied as he dropped the pen, leaning back on his chair. Daisuke had no idea what could possibly hold him back. At that moment, an idea had entered his mind. "I have an idea; let's go to the Digital World!"

"What? Is there another Digimon causing trouble?" Chibimon inquired unsure of what Daisuke's intentions were.

"No, but I am sure that if I can clear my mind I can write again, so let's go!" Daisuke proudly said and took out his D-3 pointing at the computer screen, pulling them both in.

"Daisuke!" Chibimon protested, but was unsuccessful in telling Daisuke that he did not want to go. Passing through the warp phase, Chibimon turned into V-mon and Daisuke had his clothing changed like usual, and they landed on a mountainous terrain.

Looking around, the two find they are in the middle of a mountain range, but unable to determine their exact location.

"Is this what you call relaxing scenery? It's all rocks and mountains!" V-mon protested again, after having a rough landing.

Daisuke looked around and thought for a moment before responding to his friend. While the land was not particularly eye-catching, it did provide the needed serene condition for himself.

"Yeah! There is nothing to bother us, and I think it's just great for a walk up the mountain catching the wind!" Daisuke burst out with a big smile and proceeded to walk up the mountain.

Although V-mon could complain all day to Daisuke, he just went along with Daisuke on their walk. Daisuke was right for this time, V-mon eventually found that the quiet scene around them was very comfortable and the mountain road they are walking is smooth as well. Finding content in the situation, V-mon joined Daisuke in their relaxing period and walked up the mountain catching some fresh air of the Digital World. The weather was not very sunny nor is it close to rainy, but just cool enough with a tiny bit of sun shining down every occasion. Soon, the two of was near the top, and they had sat down for a little break.

"Hey Daisuke, why did you come to the DigiWorld instead of going outside? And what are you doing?" V-mon asked as Daisuke happened to be unpacking a small bag that V-mon did not see when they speedily went through the warp.

Daisuke turned around and showed his Digimon partner two cup-ramens and a container of hot water. V-mon's eye went wide with joy at the same time a giant grin formed on Daisuke's face. Immediately V-mon forgot his former question and sat down next to Daisuke as they enjoyed their snack. V-mon's question did have an answer that came shortly afterwards though.

"Well, I figured instead of going outside in Odaiba where is going to be lots of influence, I won't be able to clear my mind from all the school-thoughts and other things. I wanted a quiet place and looks like I got my wish," Daisuke said, hoping to satisfy his partner's question. In reality, he was continuing to deny his former feelings for Hikari, which was smoothen out by the writing of his story, but his "dream" had reminded him of unnecessary feelings that rose again.

Getting enough rest from the short walk, Daisuke got up, packed the container, folded their garbage cups into tiny folds of paper, and disposed of them. With not much more length to the top of the mountain, Daisuke and V-mon ran up the small slope and reached the top. Looking over the rather colourful land and the waters that surrounded them, they knew exactly where they were.

"Looks like we arrived at File Island, quite a nice place I would say" Daisuke commented, as V-mon looked outwards and enjoyed the great sight.

"It certainly is a great place. I guess you were right about this place being the perfect place to forget about all the troubles and fighting lately..." V-mon added, sitting down as the little bit of sun shined down on the two.

However, as V-mon had finished with his comment, he would be wrong, as there was a loud bang behind the two. Turning around, they saw there was another portal that was similar to the one that retrieved Knightmon. This time an Airdramon emerged and fired Spinning Needles upon arriving. The air spears came down in a straight line towards Daisuke and V-mon, where they both dodge by shifting to the sides. Airdramon flew downwards and charged at Daisuke. Being threatened, Daisuke's D-3 reacted and V-mon digivolved into XV-mon.

Running in front of Daisuke, XV-mon punched the Airdramon in the face, sending it backwards. Airdramon continued its attacks and used Tail Attack, forming the bubble at the tip of its tail and shooting the bubble at XV-mon. Daisuke ran out of range from the fight and looked at the battle situation. _Why are random Digimon attacking us lately? And what was that portal that they went through?_ Daisuke thought as he knew that Digimon themselves would not be hostile like in the Digimon Kaiser's era.

Airdramon lunged at XV-mon, opening its mouth and revealing some vicious teeth. XV-mon shifted the side and dodged the dragon Digimon and catching its tail. Swinging the tail upwards, Airdramon lost control in mid-air while XV-mon charged up X-Laser and knocked back the Airdramon who disappeared through a portal again. Daisuke ran up to his partner, knowing that it is safe.

"I thought we wouldn't be interrupted, but I don't know why random Digimons just appear out of nowhere and attack us!" Daisuke started, not comfortable with the situation.

"It does seem strange, we are not in their territory or anything either. Something or someone must be behind this," XV-mon added.

"Maybe. I am also wondering about why these Digimon appear and disappear from a portal, it just--" Before Daisuke could finish more interruptions appeared. There was a series of loud explosions and noises all around the mountaintop. Looking up, the two saw that there was a swarm of Airdramon circling in the air above them.

"This is not good, Daisuke, get on!" XV-mon commanded, turning around to face the edge of the mountain.

"Huh? Are you crazy? You can't jump down from here!" Daisuke inquired, as he knew what his partner was thinking.

"You have any better ideas? If we don't leave now, we'll be Airdramon food!" XV-mon responded as more air spears came down on the two. Wasting no more time, Daisuke jumped onto XV-mon and they leaped off the mountain to their escape and XV-mon punching some Airdramon who tried to intercept them.

Meanwhile, on a further away part of File Island was four friends traveling. They were searching for their "friend" who had appeared to go missing in the Digital World.

"I can't believe that Daisuke! Always leaving and running away from us!" Miyako shot out, very annoyed at the recent encounters with Daisuke. Either he was in danger in the Digiworld or he was quiet when around them.

"Oh, I am sure he's not doing it on purpose. He is probably just wanting some time off from what happened yesterday" Hawkmon responded to Miyako's outbursting comment.

"He's always fighting and doing all this stuff, so why is he almost avoiding us?" Miyako countered as her stubbornness propelled her.

While Miyako and Hawkmon continued to exchange comments, Iori and Armadimon tried to figure them out themselves with logic on Daisuke's irregular behavior.

"You know, I think with school and what's been happening must be a lot of stress for Daisuke. Perhaps he is just taking a break but is frequently interrupted" Iori speculated while Armadimon thought about his own reasons.

"Yeah, he's the one who's been doing all the fighting lately. He should just rest more like the rest of us," Armadimon said, agreeing to part of Iori's statement.

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean like while keeping the safety of both worlds is a duty, I just think that he has been doing all the work by himself lately. Obviously he knows that it would be inconvenient to call us, so he tries to take all the burden on himself, which is what seems to tire him out" Iori explained in detail.

As Iori and Armadimon understood each other, Takeru and Hikari followed from behind, also catching the information that Iori discussed with Armadimon.

"Well, what do you think? It seems like it would be true. Daisuke had been taking on all the responsibilities concerning wild Digimon attacks," Takeru said to Hikari.

"I think so... Even Daisuke has his limits. Then it is good we're here right now. At least he won't be doing every alone" Hikari replied, knowing that at least they would be helping out.

Tailmon stopped at Hikari's comment and looked far away, noticing something. "I won't be too sure of that," The cat Digimon said, noticing the few explosions further away.

Everyone had stopped, still unaware of exactly what Tailmon sees. "What is it?" Hikari asked, noticing Tailmon staring straight ahead. Tailmon's eyes widen, she had confirmation what was going on form further away and she pointed in the direct of the battle that was slight moved closer and within the group's sight. Not wasting another moment, the four with their Digimon partners ran towards the site of battle on the edges of the mountain. Soon they were at a closer proximity and noticed the battle situation; an entire army of Airdramon was chasing down XV-mon and Daisuke.

"Look! It's XV-mon!" Tailmon noted, as XV-mon just barely dodged another series of Spinning Needle attacks.

From above, Daisuke could notice his partner getting tired from the avoiding and at that moment, he saw his friends from below. "XV-mon, I see everyone else down there, let's land down there and regroup" Daisuke said, making his decision.

"Good idea, we could some help by now..." XV-mon replied, flying a little lower and getting ready to land. To their surprise, An Airdramon appeared as the rocks blew open on the side of a mountain, along with another one appearing at XV-mon's other side. Another one also lowered on the top side of XV-mon. All at once, the three Airdramon used their Wing Cutter attacks and three pairs of air blades came into contact with XV-mon. Immediately, XV-mon fell downwards and Daisuke flew off from him as they fell down towards the ground. With great speed the two fell down and there was no time for Daisuke's friends to react as he fell down from the high height, but not a fatal height.

XV-mon landed and reverted to V-mon with a quick thud and stayed still from the pain. Daisuke landed at a middle length distance from his partner and let out a shout of pain. The swarm of Airdramon glided down towards Daisuke and V-mon who was defenceless. Miyako, Iori, Takeru and Hikari ran forward and saw the Airdramon swooping down to attack their friend and immediately they knew this was going to be an air battle.

"Digimental Up!" Miyako, Iori, Takeru, Hikari shouted, and their Digimon digivolved into Horusmon, Digmon, Pegasmon and Nefertimon.

"Gold Rush!" Digmon launched his Drills up and intercepted the gliding Airdramon.

"Nile Jewelry" Nefertimon fired her gems and stormed a group of Airdramon that tried to fire their attacks in retaliation.

More Airdramon flew into the scene and more emerged from their portals and with one Airdramon bigger with a darker colour starting to emerge.

"Needle Rain" Pegasmon shot from his mane to counter off some Spinning Needles and hitting a few Airdramon that finally retreated back into their portals.

"Tempest Wing!" Horusmon spun and knocked away another group of Airdramon, leaving the larger Airdramon now fully emerged into the DigiWorld.

Airdramon surrounded the group and flew down towards them with their vicious teeth showing. Horusmon flew with his Mach Impulse and Digmon released another wave of Gold Rush to stall the Airdramon coming closer. Pegasmon and Nefertimon used Sanctuary Bind and tied around the incoming Airdramon, disabling their movement. Only the different Airdramon remained, and it swooped down like the other as well. Nefertimon released a Rosetta stone and Pegasmon shot a Silver Blaze at the Raging Digimon. The Digimon avoided both attacks, and then a wave of Gold Rush came into contact with the Airdramon, but with no success of damage. Horusmon flew in with Mach Impulse and knocked it back a little, but the Airdramon retaliated and rammed Horusmon that flew into Nefertimon. Digmon used Big Crack on the ground, causing a fissure and then throwing a rock from the ground to fly at the Airdramon. Pegasmon shot another Silver Blaze beam that connected with the enemy Digimon. Showing no signs of giving up, the Airdramon leaped up and shot its Tail Attack bubble that happened to knock the three flying Digimon down next to Digmon.

"Uh oh, looks like someone's mad," Digmon said, as the three flying Digimon got up to notice the Dragon floating in front of them.

"How is it that this Airdramon is stronger then the others? And how did it get here?" Iori asked, trying to understand the situation.

"I don't know, but if we don't think of something soon, we're all going to be goners," Miyako said, as the Airdramon prepared its God Tornado attack.

A few fireballs interrupted the Airdramon. The four Armour Digimon stood still as a Blue Digimon in a humanoid form with armour coverings at the joints. While the Airdramon got up again and started to charge up God Tornado. Horusmon, Digmon, Pegasmon and Nefertimon looked at each other and nodded. Concentrating, the four of them sent a small beam at Fladramon and reverted into their Child and Adult forms. Fladramon charged an intense fire aura around his body as Airdramon prepared its attack. When Airdramon shot the dark shot, Fladramon jumped up and launched his Fire Rocket that collided with God Tornado. Fladramon broke through the shot and directly smashed into Airdramon, sending it back with heavy damage into a larger blue portal. The binded Airdramon from earlier was also retrieved through a blue portal above them.

With the battle ended, Fladramon dedigivolved back into V-mon, who walked over to a barely standing Daisuke with the other Digimon and their partners.

"Daisuke! Are you alright?" Hikari asked, seeing Daisuke in much pain.

"I think so..." Daisuke responded, but then fell over as he tried to walk. Takeru rushed up and caught the falling body.

"You think so? It doesn't look like" Takeru said to Daisuke, giving him the "yeah-right" smile. Daisuke smiled back, still trying to be strong.

"Whatever, let's go home now" Daisuke said, as the five of them headed back to their own world with their partners.

With the battle over, Miyako no longer had much to complain about, it had become clear that Hawkmon was right about Daisuke taking too much responsibility by himself. Iori started to think of a way that Daisuke could contact the rest of them instead of putting all burden on himself. Takeru continued to guide the exhausted Daisuke as they walked back to their own world and think of an excuse for Daisuke's condition. Hikari looked over to Daisuke and saw his smiling yet painful face, knowing that once again they had let Daisuke take the worse of it and tried to think of a plan to help.

Back home, Daisuke crashed down on his bed and Chibimon flew over. Although in pain, Daisuke did feel refreshed from the recent troubling thoughts and slowly got back up. It was not nearly night time yet, so there was no reason to sleep just yet. Daisuke proceeded towards his chair and opened the notebook with pen in his hand.

"Daisuke, are you really going to write in your condition?" Chibimon asked.

"Yes. Although it was more painful then I expected, that trip did bring me back into the mood" Daisuke replied, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Daisuke..." Chibimon started again.

"Yes?"

"I know you've been pulling ideas from everywhere for a good story, but are you really going to have Takato go through with nearly breaking his legs too?" Chibimon asked, noticing that Daisuke's sore legs from the landing.

Daisuke moved a little, and then he responded. "No! I know I use ideas from what we go through a few times, but not this time! After going through this, I wouldn't wish for anyone to go through this experience, even if it is just a story. Takato can take being bruised by not breaking of bones" Daisuke replied, assuring his partner that the story was not just a copy of himself in another form.

"Ok then, why don't you start writing then?" Chibimon said, waiting for the next part of the story.

"Alright then! Here it goes, Digimon Tamers! Takato and Ruki!" Daisuke finished off, placed his pen on the next page, and started to write.

**

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A/N:** This chapter was intended to be like this. It wasn't writer's block or anything that prevented the Tamers' story from appearing this time, but just a part of the plot. 


	10. Chapter 8

**

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Chapter 8: Picture of a thousand words**

Ruki tried not to think too much of the situation she was in right now. After all, it was either soaking water from walking in the rain or staying dry under an umbrella with Takato. With a hard day for Ruki, the search was not as eventful as the two would have expected it to be. Luckily, for them, there was barely any signs of life in Shinjuku due to the rain. Takato and Ruki's patrol was cut short because not even the dark stalker was present in the rain. Deciding that today would not have anything for catch, Ruki and Takato started to head towards the bakery.

"Hey Ruki, if we go to my house now then you'll be left out in the rain" Takato started as they walked a few steps away from their patrol route.

"And if we go to my place, then you'll probably attacked again, and then what?" Ruki replied.

"Well, if the rain is preventing him from showing up I should have no problem getting home safe" Takato said weakly, hoping not to get Ruki angry again by his ideas.

Without much speech, the two headed back to the Makino residence instead. Ruki did not really mind what was going on now. School had been a total waste of time because of certain people. As the two was in near proximity from Ruki's house, the rain increased heavily. Approaching the door at the same time as the Tamers was a bigger figure that seem blurry in the rain.

"Ruki? What are you doing out here in this weather? Come on in with your friend," Said the figure, clearly belonging to Makino Rumiko.

Getting inside the house with haste, Takato shut his umbrella. Soon he was quickly led by Ruki away for an unknown reason. Rumiko was surprised herself and Ruki bringing a boy home. Opening the door to Hata Seiko's room, she danced in with hope in her eyes.

"Did something happen at work now?" The older women asked calmly.

"It wasn't anything at work, but as I was returning from work, I saw Ruki and her friend out in the rain so I told them to come in. However, to my surprise she actually bought a boy home! Can you believe that?" Said Rumiko in triumph.

"Hmm? A boy? There was a time when she invited a boy home as well. And to my surprise, this picture that flew in from the mail opening of the door today had a picture of him with Ruki as well" Seiko said, handing Rumiko a picture.

"Isn't this the same boy that went with Ruki on their trip to that other place? Still, I'd never thought they would be dating already!" Rumiko said in response, a big grin forming on her face.

"It might not be what you think. Last time Ruki invited that Takato boy came over it was just a friendly visit," Seiko said, knowing that Ruki had an explanation for the current situation.

"Maybe it's different this time!" Rumiko burst out, filled with excitement despite Seiko's comments.

On the other side of the house, Ruki continued to pull Takato at great speed until he tripped and made them both fall down.

"Oh great job Gogglehead, can't you even keep up?" Ruki asked, as she got up, still worried about Rumiko being around.

"You're going too fast, and why are we running anyway? Takato said in response, not knowing why Ruki was pulling him away so fast.

Ruki did not speak for a moment. She had to think of something to keep Takato quiet while keeping out of sight for her mother. All hope was lost when Rumiko appeared running for the two Tamers.

_Why did she have to show up now?_ Ruki thought, as she knew exactly what her mother was going to say about Takato.

"Ruki... I never knew about it, but I guess this means that you're really interested right?" Rumiko asked, wearing a very broad smile, and handing Ruki the picture.

Ruki took the picture and examined it. The picture was the exact same one of her and Takato with the snack, and for whatever reason Ruki had to contain her anger until it was the right time to blow up. Rumiko turned to Takato, although she has seen the boy before, she never formally introduced herself.

"Hello Takato. I am glad that you could stay here for a little while," Rumiko said, shaking Takato's hand and then turning around. "Well, I won't bother your time together right now I guess"

Ruki shook a little bit at her mother's remarks as Rumiko disappeared from the scene. Ruki still had the picture in her hand, wondering what she should do about it. Takato would surely ask her about it, and it was time to act fast.

"Ruki? What is that picture?" Takato asked, very oblivious to the whole situation.

"It's nothing!" Ruki responded quickly, turning away from Takato and bringing the picture away, secretly hiding an apparent blush. Ruki turned around fast enough but loosened her grip on the picture and it flew backwards to where Takato was standing.

Takato reached out for the picture, but stopped when he noticed what was in the picture. Ruki turned around to face Takato, but only froze as she noticed Takato already looked at the picture. There was a brief moment of silence in that area as the rain continued to hit the ground as Takato slowly reached down and picked up the picture for a closer look.

"Who took this picture?" Takato slowly asked, breaking the silence.

Ruki turned around again; she could not control the redness spreading over her face. It took some time for things to process through before she could finally respond to Takato.

"My dumb schoolmates took that. They bothered me about it all day long; they even made multiple copies of it!" Ruki spat out, with a tone of anger in her voice.

Renamon now appeared at the scene to see what was going on, although she heard the conversation she was unable to determine much without the actual picture.

"I will be right back, and dispose of that picture" Ruki commanded as she left the scene temporarily.

Renamon walked up to Takato, examining the picture herself to see what the cause of the whole event was. Takato let out a small sigh of relief; at least now, he knew what got Ruki angry earlier.

"Are you going to throw that out?" Renamon questioned, having finished her own observations on the picture.

"Huh? Well, I guess... after all, it was just..." Takato trailed off, unable to gather thoughts around the whole picture deal.

"Perhaps you might consider keeping it, even if it was unknown and unintended" Renamon finished.

"Keeping it? But... huh?" Takato said, with Renamon already disappeared from sight. Without much thought on what to do with the picture, Takato quickly shoved it down his pocket and sat down for a while.

Ruki re-entered the scene shortly after and sat down not too close to Takato. The day had been terrible and Ruki only kept quiet hoping that tomorrow would turn out to be a better day. Another brief period of silence settled over the place as Ruki and Takato took a respite from the day's events and only little movements every occasion. Later, Seiko arrived at the two Tamers' location and placed down a tray of snacks and tea.

"So... what did she say after seeing the picture?" Seiko started, hoping to find some way to comfort the uneasiness in the place.

"Everything. She just doesn't get it. It's not what it looks like!" Ruki replied quickly.

"I'm sorry about this you two. She just overreacted" Seiko apologized, knowing that Rumiko said something not appealing.

"It's... alright..." Takato spoke, knowing that Ruki needed some silence for the scene. Shortly after Seiko left the place and surprisingly, the rain stopped.

Takato knew it would be better to leave Ruki some time, and got ready to leave, but Ruki also stood up instead of staying behind.

"Hey Gogglehead, you aren't thinking of going back just like that are you?" Ruki asked, with a normal tone of voice.

Takato took a little time to comprehend the words, and then he remembered. "Oh, yeah..." He replied, putting his hand on the back of his head and releasing a small smile. Not bothering to notify the adults in the house, the two Tamers left Makino residence and started to head for the bakery. Even with rain clearing, there was barely any sun left because time had passed during the rain. Without much going on in Shinjuku and, Takato and Ruki reached the bakery.

"Oh no, I left my umbrella at your house" Takato remembered.

"You can pick it up some other time, besides it's getting late now," Ruki said, dismissing any more ideas from Takato. After all, the day had gone by too much slowly.

"Uhh... see you," Takato said as Ruki headed off. _I can't believe what happened today, and this picture... should I really keep it? Whatever, I might as well go to sleep and forget about today's events... oh right, I forgot about Guilmon what should I do? I hope he's ok..._

To Takato's surprise, his mom had received information on where he had stayed for most of the day and had questions fly at him. After making up some excuses and answering some questions, Takato finally reached his room and fell down to rest. The 'interrogation' questioning and homework had consumed much of his time and Takato decided to turn in early. _Good thing I managed to hide the picture... otherwise it would take a few years worth of time shake off that one..._ Takato thought as crawled into bed and fell asleep.

At the break of the night, Guilmon dug around inside his shed and continued to eat some bread that Takato left over. There was not much going on for him since it looked too weird to walk around in broad daylight with Takato and nighttime Takato had to stay inside due Matsuda family being worried since seeing the bruises. There were short breaks where Takato visited Guilmon for some bread or just some time for fun. As Guilmon continued eating the bread, he felt an intrusion of some sort. While not particularly harmful, it was still worthy to check. Putting down the break basket, Guilmon walked outside and scouted around. A sudden shift on the tree nearby caught his attention and turning to that direction, he noticed a familiar figure.

"Oh, Renamon what are you doing here?" Guilmon asked in his cheery voice, happy to see some company.

"Well, Takato and Ruki seem to have some sort of special friendship going on. It's hard to explain, but it is unlike any normal type of friendship" Renamon started, recalling the few scenes she observed on human interactions and reactions.

"Special friendship? What are they?" Guilmon asked again, not sure of what he was hearing.

"Oh for crying out loud, this 'special friendship' you guys are talking about it called a relationship!" Called a hidden voice from the shadows.

Renamon and Guilmon turned to see the new stranger. This small figure has dark colour that made it hard to distinguish from the night shadows. Only a half-white face and some red gloves revealed this figure.

"Impmon? You know exactly what this is all about?" Renamon inquired, looking to see if Impmon had a better idea on the topic.

"Well, Makoto and Ai always mention something about this. They say that when a boy and a girl get together, magic takes place and a ton of weird stuff happens" Impmon said, and then reaching back for something. Taking out a picture, he continued speaking. "Well, like I was saying, there is supposed to be 'magic' happening. I went through your Tamer's school today and I managed to get myself a copy of this. I don't know much about this myself, but I can say that humans have some strange way of putting things don't you think?" Impmon finished.

"Cool, so Takato and Ruki are under magic now?" Guilmon asked, believing every word Impmon said.

Impmon tried explaining Ai and Makoto's will imaginations to Guilmon. While Renamon started to put together both her own experience and observations along with what was relevant and believable in Impmon's words. _Hmmm, a 'relationship' is the jargon for this thing... Looks like there is still much more to learn._ Renamon thoughts gathered, and then starting to leave with the picture.

"Hey! What are you planning to do with the picture?" Impmon asked, point to the leaving Renamon.

"Well, you won't need it will you? I think this should be kept just in case" Renamon finished, phasing out of the scene.

"Huh? Just in case of what? Oh whatever, I don't know what she's up to. Not like I have any use for that picture anyway" Impmon finished, satisfied with his wise words.

"So what about Takato and Ruki now?" Guilmon said, still confused on the whole subject despite taking a small glance at the picture.

"Do I look like I know everything? Who knows what will happen to those two, maybe you should go find out yourself. Perhaps those two does have some sort of magic going through them, I don't need to know because this certainly ain't my business" Impmon finished, starting to take his leave.

Guilmon waved to Impmon, but still not understanding the situation at all.

The sun rose on the next morning over Shinjuku, and school was going to start in a matter of time. Takato rushed to school and sat down, relieved that he made it on time because he had woken up a little later then he wanted to. The challenge of the day started when several snickers can be heard from behind him. From just listening closely to these sounds, Takato identified them to be Hirokazu and Kenta's laughs. Class had started and Takato dared not to look back to see what his friends were doing, and even Juri was quiet. _This is strange, what's up with everybody? It looks like as if they have something to say to me..._ Takato thought at the back of his head as the lecture continued.

Throughout the short breaks, Takato could not find his friends, which was very strange. Things went for the better however, as a more friendly voice came into Takato's hearing range.

"Takato, what are you doing?" Said a voice.

Turning around, Takato notices Terriermon being nosy at about everything again while Jenrya had more of a serious look to himself.

"So where is everybody? Are they not at school today?" Jenrya asked, noticing the absence of the other Tamers.

"I don't know I saw them in the first class, but then they just disappeared" Takato replied, unsure of what exactly was happening.

"Maybe you did something wrong" Terriermon suggested, only to be hushed.

"That is strange, I wonder where they could be... and you haven't been in contact with the enemy lately have you?" Jenrya questioned.

"Yeah, I am fine for now..." Takato trailed off, knowing that if Terriermon heard who he has been on patrol with, it would be catastrophic.

"Well, we can never be too careful. I talked to Ryo the other day, and he said that this stalker may seem harmless in the digital world, but in the real world it shows its hostile side," Jenrya explained, knowing the description fitting to the situation.

"But how come we still can't pick up this Digimon on our D-Arcs?" Takato asked.

"I don't know it may be something else we haven't seen yet. Anyway, time is just about up for us. We should head back into school," said Jenrya swiftly response as the two headed back into the school.

After school, Takato went to the usual meeting place. It was a very unusual day, but Takato had better things to worry about right now. At least the few short moments of free time allowed Takato to drop off some bread and talk with Guilmon. A few moments passed, and Takato heard a calling. It was not an expected call, but a familiar voice. Nevertheless, Takato got up from the shed and walked outside to see that all Hirokazu, Kenta and behind them Juri.

"Ummm, what is it?" Takato started, feeling a sense of nervousness.

Hirokazu made a huge grin on his face, and Kenta followed, but not as nerve wrecking as Hirokazu. After giving off the creepy faces, Hirokazu spoke up.

"Oh, we know what you're up to Takato. We've been wondering where you were for the past three days, but what we found what unexpected" Hirokazu said in a daring voice that caused Takato to take a step back, not understanding what Hirokazu is referring to.

"What? What did I ever do?" Takato said in a lighter tone, trying to release the tension.

"Oh you know you've been dating Ruki haven't you?" Kenta finally asked.

"No... I..." Takato trailed off as he was interrupted by a picture in his face.

"Then what's this that Juri picked up near the school grounds on Ruki's school?" Asked Hirokazu, waving the picture in Takato's face.

Almost immediately, Takato's face went red. Having no control after seeing the picture, Takato's feet only stuck to the ground even though he wanted to move away. Kenta took notice Takato and immediately pointed at the redness on his face.

"Just look at that face, you were right Hirokazu!" Kenta said, giving off a bigger smile.

At this point, Hirokazu wrapped one arm around Takato's neck and continued to smile at him. "You should have told us Chumley. Although we never knew you would start now…"

Takato continued to defend himself from Hirokazu and Kenta's advances. "It isn't what you guys think..."

Juri had now stepped up a little and tried to release the tension "Hey, I think we should let Takato..." Juri started only to be ignored.

"You don't need to deny it, we know you had it in you from the beginning," Kenta added, adding more to Takato's embarrassment.

At the same time of the event, Jenrya and Terriermon away from eye-range had tuned into the conversation.

"Ah ha! Did you hear that? Takato and Ruki, Sitting in a tree..." Terriermon started, but was silence by Jenrya. "What was that for?" Terriermon asked.

"Don't cause too much noise. This is not something we really should have heard. Tell me, why did I let you convince me to do this?" Jenrya asked, not sure why he agreed to listen only this one time.

"Because it's good! Now that we know, we should go out and..." Terriermon trailed off, starting to head towards the main conversation zone, only to be held back by Jenrya.

"I won't enter now..." Jenrya warned Terriermon, pointing at the new figure that appeared and is now heading up the stone steps to the rest of the Tamers.

Hirokazu and Kenta noticing the angry Ruki heading towards them, immediately fled the scene without thinking much of where they were going. Ruki's outward anger had seemingly disappeared but a little resurfaced again when she picked up the picture. Turning to Takato, she spoke out.

"Why didn't dispose of it?" She interrogated.

Juri came up once again; the picture was what she had brought up, and Takato should not take blame for it.

"Umm, Ruki... I found that as I walked by your school grounds and it was just..." Juri was cut in before finishing as Ruki handed the picture back.

"Just trash it. This is not what it seems" Ruki said to Juri in her usual voice, and she went on her way with Takato slowly following from behind.

------

Chibimon had fallen asleep during Daisuke's writing of the chapter. Daisuke closed his notebook and went to bed. While in bed, Daisuke closed his eyes and relaxed, but could not find sleep.

_This is weird, somehow I just don't feel tired or having a need to sleep. I wonder why... _Daisuke thought, as he tried to fall asleep again. After failing to fall asleep, Daisuke got up from his bed and decided to use his computer for advice on writing instead. _Might as well make use of this time if I can't get any sleep... maybe I'll get tired enough to fall asleep then. _Daisuke said to himself, typing a few keywords into the search engine.

Despite Daisuke's efforts to fall asleep, he did not find it and the daylight rose and its light penetrated his room. Still getting no sleep for unknown reasons, Daisuke started to pack his bag, getting ready for the day.

* * *


	11. Chapter 9

* * *

Daisuke went to school and although exhausted, he could not find himself to fall asleep. Time passed by very slowly in Daisuke's world as he sat through the lectures in class, still Daisuke did not feel a bit of urge to sleep despite his own desire to. _This is so weird; perhaps when I get home I can get some sleep. I don't know what possessed me to stay up the night when there is school following... _Daisuke thought as he sat in the same position to avoid detection during the class's lecture. 

When break time arrived, Daisuke went to his usual hiding place and sat down. Chibimon popped out of his bag and looked to the exhausted Daisuke.

"Daisuke, what happened to you?" Chibimon asked, unsure of why Daisuke was in this condition.

"Nothing... last night I just stayed up a little longer then I expected to" Daisuke replied, letting out a big yawn.

With nothing else to say, Chibimon looked at the school grounds of the school and watched the other students enjoy playing some sports. Chibimon had just remembered about the story, and was about to ask Daisuke about it.

"Hey Daisuke, what about..." Chibimon said, and then interrupted by the bell.

Wasting not another second, Daisuke picked up Chibimon, stuffed the small Digimon back into his bag, and ran slowly to his next class. The rest of the school day was the same for Daisuke, staring and pretending to take notes had Daisuke well concealed to others on his tired state. Eventually, the final bell went off and Daisuke slowly made his way out of the school and went home. The weather was sunny, but Daisuke did not care much about it because all he was looking forward to was sleep.

At home, Daisuke fell facedown on his bed. Still he was unable to sleep and he twisted and turned awhile. _What is happening to me? _Daisuke thought as he lay still on his bed thinking about his condition. A few moments later, Chibimon jumped in front of Daisuke's face with a big smile.

"Daisuke! Good chapter, write next one!" Chibimon said, landing on Daisuke's face.

Being unprepared for Chibimon, Daisuke shot up in surprise and Chibimon flew on the other side of the bed.

"Ah! Daisuke..." Chibimon complained, landing on his head.

"Sorry, I was just thinking... anyway..." Daisuke finished, getting up and heading towards his desk for writing of the next chapter. _Well, if I can't sleep, might as well use this ever-lasting energy to write something..._ Daisuke thought, starting to enjoy the state he is in.

**Chapter 9: Realizing**

Takato and Ruki continued their usual patrol after leaving the meeting area. Takato had kept silence since then because he is afraid of accidentally bringing back up the picture topic. After all, he still had the picture on him and if Ruki saw it, it would be the end of him. After walking for a little bit around the corners of the park, some shaking of leafs could be heard. Immediately Ruki knew that someone was obviously nearby. Renamon appeared over the location where the sound was heard and surveyed the area. Nothing was seen. Phasing out and appearing at a location near the two Tamers but staying out of sight from the rest of the world.

"I don't see anything even though the noise could clearly be heard. This target we're looking for is certainly not normal..." Renamon reported.

"Sooner or later he will show up... he can't hide forever..." Ruki said, not giving up on the hunt anytime soon.

Well, at least she is sure about this. _I hope that this problem will be solved soon as well... not that walking around with Ruki is bad; in fact, it actually feels safer. Wait, am I thinking right?_ Takato thought, going into his own world.

"Hey Gogglehead, are you ready to move?" Ruki said, interrupting Takato's thoughts.

Breaking out of his own world, Takato snapped back to reality. Incidentally, his face also grew some red patches after thinking about something a little too much. "Huh? Umm, yeah. Let's go..." Takato responded, turning away to hide his own face.

Ruki caught on to Takato's reaction and narrowed down her eye a little bit. _Hmm? What's with Gogglehead? _Ruki thought, as the two continued their walk. After walking for some length, a huge rustle could be heard from the bushes nearby. The two stopped and waited, seeing if maybe perhaps Renamon would identify something. Waiting for about few seconds, a white and purple flash flew out of the bushes at the two Tamers. Takato jumped in surprise while Ruki took a step back while the blur that came out gave a small laugh.

"Hey guys! What are you doing?" asked the small object that appeared before the Tamers.

"Culumon? Why did you have to jump out like that?" Takato asked, relieved that it was just Culumon who came out and not some fierce Digimon.

"What's wrong? You look like you need to have some fun. Com'on, let's play!" Culumon cheered, still looking for some fun.

"We're busy right now, so we can't play with you," Ruki said, gathering herself from Culumon's sudden burst into the scene.

Culumon closed his ears and looked a little disappointed, giving them a face.

"Umm, I think Guilmon might be bored right now, perhaps you can go find him and play with him instead?" Takato suggested, hoping that Culumon will not be too disappointed about the situation.

"Alright then!" Culumon said, opening his ears and flying off in Guilmon's hut.

Takato let out a sigh "At least it ain't him trying to make an attack."

"Really now, are you that afraid?" Ruki asked, in a teasing tone.

"No, but it's just that..." Takato trailed off, not having any respond to Ruki's last question.

Ruki let out a small grin. _Hmm... looks like Gogglehead is still the same... Although... he has been acting somewhat strange since we've started to look for this Digimon. Could it be that... well, no use thinking about things like that, who am I kidding?_ Ruki thought as she took lead with Takato following behind her.

For the rest of the day, there were much more rustling sounds coming from the areas that the two Tamers crossed by. Renamon could still not find anything behind the bushes despite looking thoroughly through. Once again, Renamon phased out to report the small hint of finds she noticed.

"It would seem that whoever is following us is currently keeping watch over us instead of taking action," Renamon said.

"Then we've got to do something more about this" Ruki said in response, having an idea form in her head.

"What are we going to do then?" Takato asked, hoping that Ruki's next idea will not be dangerous or extreme.

"We'll start coming out at nighttime. I've been noticing that this thing tends to stalk during the daytime and saving the attacks during nighttime. It would be obvious, no one could see some black cloaked person who blends in with the night," Ruki concluded, gathering a plan for her new idea.

_Ohhhh, I don't know about this..._ Takato said in the back of his mind, while daytime patrol was relatively simple, staying out late at night would only worry his parents like before.

"That's what we'll do. Right now we can send you home and later we can start the real search," Ruki said, setting down the plan without Takato having a word in it.

Takato opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. Being forced to accept the plan, Takato headed back home with Ruki following. Once reaching the bakery, Takehiro opened the door and saw the two Tamers.

"Hey son, why not come in with your friend? The weather is supposed to be getting worse around this time," Takehiro mentioned, motioning for the two to come in.

"Yeah sure" Takato quickly responded.

Ruki tried to protest, but no words came out of her mouth when she opened it and it slowly closed again as she followed Takato inside the bakery. _Why am I here?_ Ruki thought, not knowing why she said nothing as Takato invited her inside. She could have just easily said no to his invitation, but somewhere inside she wanted to stay. _Great, not this feeling again..._ Ruki said in the back of her head while her face appeared redder then before.

"Umm, Ruki? Are you alright?" Takato asked, breaking Ruki out of her thinking state. Immediately Ruki replied with a simple response, not showing any sign of weakness.

"Yes. So what is there to do here anyway?" Ruki asked, getting herself out of an uncomfortable position.

"Well, I think we could play a few games of Digimon if you have your cards with you" Takato suggested, hoping that it would not bore Ruki too much.

Going upstairs, Takato and Ruki played a few games of cards. After five long matches, Ruki noticed the time and got up. The five matches were mainly from Takato struggling, and Ruki had won most of them. The last game was different, Takato learned some tricks throughout the course of the five games and managed to beat Ruki for once, even through it was by a margin.

"Well, nice going on that last game. I've got to go now, just remember that tonight we're going to start the real hunt," Ruki said, getting ready to leave.

"Alright... so... are you going to be all right going home right now?" Takato added, and then realized what he just said._ Uh oh, what did I just say?_ Takato thought, realizing that he should not have said what he just said.

Ruki froze for a brief moment in thought. _What? Why is he asking me that kind of question? Oh well, have to get home right now so that Mother and Grandma won't think I went missing._ Ruki thought, as she continued for the door. "Yes, I am fine"

After bidding good-bye, Takato closed the front door and turned to head back to his room. Setting his homework on the table, he began to work. Throughout the work session, he also reflected at the day's events. From after school to Ruki's visit, and it surprised Takato how much time he actually spent with Ruki throughout the past week. At the same time, Hirokazu and Kenta's comments resurfaced in his mind, and it seemed scary to Takato to think of things that way.

Few hours of rest passed by, and Takato took a short nap after finishing his homework and was awoken by a violent shaking.

"Son, your friend has come to see you," Said Takehiro, waking Takato up.

Rubbing his eyes, Takato immediately noticed the time and immediately sprung up from this bed and rushed downstairs. Getting his shoes ready, Takato also took a few handfuls of bread for Guilmon when He and Ruki would walk by that section of the park.

"Well, don't stay out too late if you're going out on a date son," Takehiro joked.

Takato froze from the words of his dad and responded shortly. "It's not like that...," said the weak response of Takato, turning his face away to hide his face that grew red again. On the way out, a picture flew out of Takato's pocket. Takehiro walked over and picked up the picture, examined it, and then smirked a little.

"Really dear, you think Takato would be already dating at his age?" asked Yoshie's voice from inside.

"Oh, I don't know about that... why don't you come take a look at this?" Takehiro said placing the picture down at the table as Yoshie walked over to look at the picture herself.

Takato quickly rushed out of his house and saw Ruki waiting outside.

"Took you long enough, we don't have all the time in the world you know" Ruki said, having not enjoyed the waiting.

"Sorry, I fell asleep" Responded Takato with his usual smile.

"Whatever, just keep quiet now, we know that he is out there somewhere, possibly watching us even now" Ruki warned, leading the way into the most likely places that they would meet their target.

Walking into the cold night, the two Tamers could hear a lot more noises around them with hiding places. Reaching the park, the two entered complete silence. The only thing audible was their own footsteps as they approached Guilmon's hideout. Takato rushed into the hut and was in for a big surprise when Guilmon jumped on him, creating a large wave of noise.

"Oww, Guilmon, you really need to lose some weight" Takato said as he got up and unloaded the bread for Guilmon.

Ruki kept watch from outside, and Renamon fazed into the scene. There was silence set all over the area, and the faintest of sounds came from bushes far away. There was no wind in the area, but the night was cold enough as Ruki stood still to freeze a little. After a few moments, Takato emerges back out of the hut with Guilmon.

"Found anything yet?" Takato asked.

"Nothing but some strange noises. We should check out that area if you're done with your pet already," Ruki said, pointing at the tighter space in the park.

Slowly proceeding on, the Tamers neared their destination and surveyed the area for any strange movements. Guilmon stood out in the opening, while Renamon kept herself hidden from view.

"Guilmon! What are you doing? We're trying to keep hidden," Takato whispered across to Guilmon.

Guilmon did not listen; instead, he looked intently forward and listened closely to what is ahead. After Guilmon confirmed what he believed what was their target, he opened his mouth and formed a crimson red ball and fired it at the direction he was looking at.

"Guilmon!" Takato said, jumping out of his hiding place and running towards his Digimon. The target object's attention was redirected when Guilmon's fireball attack caused "Ooof" sound instead of the usual puff from the fireball hitting a normal object. Turning around to where Guilmon had looked, Takato saw a dark figure getting up from his fall.

Ruki had jumped out after Takato and noticed the rising figure at the night as well. Very soon, the target started to run away after noticing Ruki and Takato. Running in the enemy's direction, Ruki turned her head a little and shouted to Takato.

"Go around the corner, we'll trap him from both sides" Ruki commanded as she ran towards the direction where the enemy escaped along with Renamon that phased into view recently.

Immediately Takato ran towards the other direction for the bend into the path that would eventually intercept with where their enemy would run. Guilmon followed Takato as they ran through the curved route and into the big intersection of paths. Arriving there, there was nothing in sight. Takato looked around at all sides and Guilmon looked in the opposite direction.

_Where did they go?_ Takato thought as he searched the area with his eyes to catch anything that would appear soon. Turning around, Takato noticed Guilmon was missing from sight and he turned around to see Guilmon running in another direction.

"Hey Guilmon, where are you going?" Called out Takato as he moved forward to follow Guilmon.

Guilmon turned around and replied, "I think they are over here," and continued running in his direction. Takato followed behind, not knowing if Guilmon knew the route, but he figured that if the target was a Digimon then Guilmon should have sensed it. As soon as Guilmon turned and was out of sight, Takato felt a hard tug on his upper arm and the pain stopped his movement.

Turning around, Takato immediately noticed that it was the attacker. Immediately Takato lowered his head as he noticed a punch going his way, but he was unable to get free as the stalker had a firm grip on his arm.

"Humph" muttered the dark figure, almost looking like it smiling at the struggling Takato. The figure raised its free hand again, ready to bring it down on Takato when it noticed some light from further away in the air. At once, Takato was released and the dark figure rolled out of the way as numerous white shards came running down into the area.

Renamon flew back down as her Fox Leaf Arrowheads missed the target, and Ruki appearing behind her shortly after.

"Game time is over Mr. Mysterious," Ruki said as he walked forward beside Renamon upon seeing the figure in a closer proximity for the first time.

The targeted figure let out a small chuckle, then responded with its own words. "Heh, it's not the end yet. Think you can keep up with me?" the figure taunted, then realizing Guilmon was back at the scene about to launch another fireball at him. "Sorry, I must go now" and quickly it climbed the wall of the park as Guilmon's fireball made a small boom.

Renamon jumped up towards and the figure and ready to intercept him. "Stop!" Renamon commanded as she neared the fleeing being. Reacting immediately, the mysterious figure stretched out its leg and kicked Renamon back as it continued to run away at great speed.

"Renamon!" Ruki said, running towards the falling fox. Renamon got up shortly after falling, suffering no damage. At this time, Takato and Guilmon gathered at the Ruki's location and saw that their target was gone.

"He got away..." Takato mentioned, looking at the direction that the figure fled.

"Don't worry, we'll get him soon. He can't run forever," Ruki said, without a tone of worry.

"I guess we should head back home now. He is probably not going to show up again tonight," Takato said, having enough action for one day. Motioning for Guilmon to return to his own "house" Takato waved to Guilmon as the Digimon walked away.

"Don't forget to get me some peanut butter tomorrow," Guilmon reminded, smiling.

Takato started to walk towards his house and was stopped when Ruki called him.

"Gogglehead, are you going to just go?" She asked, still questioning his safety. At the same time questioning herself why she was concerned with his safety.

"Umm yeah, my house is not really far from here and he probably won't show up again. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow Ruki" Takato said as he waved to Ruki.

"Becareful..." Ruki whispered as she watched Takato until he completely left the scene. Turning around and starting the journey back to her own house, Ruki looked back at the direction that Takato disappeared. After walking a few steps, she turned around and looked in the direction again. Renamon noticed Ruki's constant stopping and spoke.

"Ruki, what is the matter?" Renamon questioned, waiting for a response. Silence came soon; Ruki did not respond but was still looking in the direction that Takato left. Renamon was about to speak again when Ruki finally spoke up.

"Renamon... make sure that Gogglehead gets home without him showing up again," Ruki commanded as she turned around and started to walk again.

"Ruki?" Renamon asked a little shocked at the unusual request from her Tamer.

"I will be fine, so make sure" Ruki replied, continuing her walk back to the Makino residence.

Renamon did not need to think more on the subject. It was an unusual request, but she knew it would be best to go with the plan. I think I can see something going on with Ruki and Takato now... Renamon thought as she jumped around in the shadows and catching up to Takato.

_Hmmm, Gogglehead... Why does he seem to be acting a bit stranger since coming out tonight? And why am I thinking about this anyway?_ Ruki thought, gathering her thoughts at the back of her head and trying to figure something out.

------

As expected, Daisuke felt no signs of tiredness from within him and only took a stretch break. _Not bad for a chapter I'd say..._ Daisuke said to himself, as he looked at the page with his most recently finished chapter. Hearing a knock at his door, Daisuke immediately threw his pen away, closing his notebook immediately, and shifting it away. The door opened to his room and Daisuke saw Jun peeking in.

"Its Dinner time lazy head, I've called you several times already," Jun said, purposely trying to get Daisuke angry.

Daisuke narrowed one eye as he looked towards Jun. "Shut up" Daisuke replied to Jun's statement and stood up from his chair and walked outside for dinner. After dinner, Daisuke closed the door in his room and sat down at his desk again. This time he took out some textbooks and other notebooks and started to work on his homework.

After finishing homework, the day soon ended. Daisuke looked out the window in his fully awake state. There was still no sign of tiredness inside of him, and he leaned back on his chair to relax. Chibimon opened Daisuke's Digimon Tamers notebook and continued reading the latest chapter that Daisuke wrote before he fell asleep. Finishing the last sentence, Chibimon jumped and faced Daisuke.

"Daisuke, when are you going to continue writing? It looks really good," Chibimon cheered as Daisuke snapped back into reality and faced Chibimon.

"Maybe not tonight, perhaps tomorrow..." Daisuke responded, getting up and shutting off the desk-lights while going out to the washroom to prepare for bed. Coming back into his room, Daisuke noticed Chibimon already asleep, and he wished that he would be able to fall asleep as fast as his Digimon partner would. Shutting off all the lights in his room, Daisuke attempted to sleep again. Failure set in as Daisuke would automatically open his eyes after shutting them for no more then thirty seconds.

_Why can't I just sleep? I don't think I can handle another day without sleep..._ Daisuke thought as he sat up on his bed thinking.

The next sunrise approached, and Daisuke was at his computer again. Either he was reading some articles or he tried to send emails or enter chat rooms. Throughout the night, Daisuke did not feel one bit of need to sleep. _What's happening to me? Did I really gain infinite strength or something?_ Daisuke thought as he packed up his bags and got ready for school. At school, Daisuke went through everything his usual way and managed to stay unnoticed as the school day went by. When the final school bell finally rang, Daisuke immediately sped home. If any of his friends had seen him in this condition, it would take the world's biggest liar to get out of this one. Even Daisuke would not be able to pull it off despite his state of alertness.

Getting home, Daisuke took out his bags immediately and began working on his homework. Having the homework finished within a few moments time, Daisuke leaned back and closed his eyes. _Perhaps if I tried to concentrate..._ he thought, hoping to fall asleep. Daisuke's eyes popped open again and he was wide-awake.

"Daisuke, what's wrong?" Asked Chibimon, noticing Daisuke's recent change over the day.

"Nothing, stayed up late again" Daisuke lied, thinking it would be much simpler to lie then to explain his condition to Chibimon with vocabulary that the small Digimon will not understand.

Nightfall soon came, and Daisuke was still moping around his room trying to find ways to sleep. _This is no use, I can't fall asleep even though I want to... or I need to..._ Daisuke thought, giving up on a solution for the present condition. It occurred to Daisuke that today he had not written a chapter yet, even though Chibimon had bugged him about it a few times throughout the day.

After Chibimon fell asleep, Daisuke took out his notebook along with his pen and ten shut off the main lights to his room while keeping the desk light on. _Alright... I might as well write something if I can't do anything during the night..._ Daisuke thought, concentrating on his story chapters he was going to write throughout this all-nighter.

* * *


	12. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Didn't mention it before, but since I am using it now, I will say that **bold** print are things like telepathic or just normal messages.

**

* * *

Chapter 10: Direct Confrontation**

Takato quietly sneaked into his house and took off his shoes. He tiptoed to avoid his parents since he was late coming home, but his mother waited in him in his room. Opening the door, Takato knew it was inevitable to have a talk with his mother.

"Takato..." Yoshie said in a serious tone, hinting for Takato to sit down.

Very slowly, Takato sat down, knowing that the conversation may very well be about staying out too late and getting beat up again. However, Yoshie only took out a picture and handed it to Takato.

"Can you explain what is going on?" She asked, demanding an answer.

Takato's eyes widened again, it was that picture again--the one that caused him many problems. _Did this fall out on my way to the door? Umm how should I explain this... _Takato thought, not lowering the picture to see his mother's face. Yoshie broke the silence by speaking again and asking the same question.

"Takato... I won't criticize you, but really, are you..." Yoshie said, continuing her questions.

"It's not like that!" Takato said in defence, knowing that he and Ruki were not dating or anything of the sort. For the next few tens of minutes, Takato quickly thought of quick and reasonable excuses that would get him out of the mess. The process was successful and Takato managed to break free from suspicion, even though his reasoning of the whole story behind the picture was on the borderline of being acceptable.

Takato let out a sigh of relieve as his mother left, buying his modified story. _Phew! That was a close one... Maybe Ruki was right, I should dispose of the picture soon... but then Renamon mentioned to keep it, for what though? Oh well, I guess I will just have to hide it better until I find an answer..._ Takato concluded, tucking away the picture that caused him undeserved pain.

Next morning came and Takato reached school in time and sat down in class thinking. _I haven't heard anything from Hirokazu or Kenta today... However, will they understand even if I do explain it to them? Ok, first, maybe I should talk to Juri, she might understand this better then those two..._

As the bell rung, all of Takato's friends rushed into class late. Takato made a huge grin as Hirokazu and Kenta gets in trouble with Asanuma while Juri made it just in time. At the short break, Takato walks slowly to the exit of the classroom to avoid both Hirokazu and Kenta from bugging him since those two rushed out of the class before him. On his way out, Takato leaped backwards in surprise as a sock-puppet appeared and followed by a "woof!"

"Are you still scared Takato?" Juri asked, appearing with her joyous smile.

"Don't do that..." Takato said in a defeated voice as he regained himself. _Well, at least she found me, so how would I explain this now?_

"Oh, and about yesterday Takato..." Juri started, remembering the event.

"Umm, yeah about that... It's not what it looks like... you see... a few people from Ruki's school took that picture and then developed many pictures" Takato quickly explained, hoping to do this quick and fast.

"Really? Then about yesterday..." Juri questioned again, going deeper into the truth she wanted to know.

"We're not... doing anything, we're just keeping watch of that certain thing that's been around lately" Takato replied quickly again, avoiding and shortening the conversation.

"Arf! Maybe you should relax for a bit. We're all here to help you know" Juri's sock puppet said, releasing the tension.

"Yeah ok, thanks..." Takato said, relaxing his tenseness from the whole conversation.

Juri smiled, bringing happiness to the scene again, and then walked to the direction that her friends called her and took her leave. Takato rested on the wall to cool down and relax. For him, Juri was easy to talk to and understand him, but Hirokazu and Kenta would be a completely different story that he will not attempt until later. The rest of the school day went by at a medium-pace for Takato as he went through his classes. Finally, the final bell for school rang and everybody was rushing out. Arriving at the usual meeting location, Takato hid behind the bushes of the area to avoid his two friends. He did not know why he would still be walking around with Ruki at the daytime when it is clear that 'he' would be lurking around during the night.

Takato slowly crept out of the bushes as Ruki approached, and Takato only focused on moving away from the area, as he knew that anytime his friends might show up. Hiding in the darker areas of the park was the best option as the sun's light shined over Shinjuku.

Ruki caught Takato's panic-wave and questioned him. "What's the rush? There is no need to hurry," She said, not knowing Takato's thoughts.

"Look! There they are!" Said a voice from nearby, as three figures emerged from the side area.

Ruki immediately knew exactly why Takato was in a rush and walked up to both Hirokazu and Kenta and getting hold of their collars.

"Listen you two, if you mention anything about that picture or say anything about this, I will make sure that you will not see a tomorrow. Because it is not what your little minds think it is," Ruki said, striking fear into the boys as she let them down.

Without saying anything, Hirokazu and Kenta left the scene quickly. Juri greeted Ruki as the scene changed in tone.

"Hi Ruki! It has been some time now hasn't it?" Juri asked, putting on a smile as she stepped up to Ruki.

"Yes, I have been busy, so excuse me" Ruki replied, getting into a conversation with Juri.

Seeing the situation cleared and not needed at the current moment, Takato entered Guilmon's shed and was surprised when his Digimon partner jumped at him.

"Guilmon, maybe you really should go on a diet," Takato said as he got up form the fall and unloaded some bread.

"Diet? Is it tasty?" Guilmon asked, thinking of food.

"No, well, how should I explain it..." Takato said, thinking of some way to explain while hearing two figures coming into the shed.

"Hey look! It's Takato!" Said Culumon who flew in and landing next to Guilmon.

"Ha, don't know what you find so fun within this little house. After all, it's full of dents and holes!" Impmon said, examining the shed that is half-broken from Guilmon's digging.

"Hey guys, did you drop in to play?" Takato asked as Culumon jumped onto Guilmon's head.

"Play? I don't know if we can have any fun with this kind of playing, but if you want fun, then you come to try and get us!" Impmon taunted, as he ran out of the house.

"Hey, sounds fun. Let Takato catch us!" Culumon cheered, running outside with Guilmon.

The three Digimon ran outside past Ruki and Juri, and Takato followed slowly behind as he struggled to keep up with the pace. Juri laughed a little upon seeing the Goggle boy playing games with the Digimon while Ruki only watched out of amusement. Ruki and Juri continued to talk in the park about Digimon cards while Takato kept on the struggle to play Digimon tag. Evening soon approached and when Juri left and the Digimon went back home, Ruki walked Takato home to their break before the real event.

Takato lay down on his bed; the homework that was assigned today had been a lot of work. Hearing a faint sound, Takato sat up and looked around the room. Finding nothing, Takato lay down again. _Must be my imagination..._ Takato thought as he yawned, and then hearing a louder and notable sound by his window. Getting up, Takato went up to his window and looked outside. Seeing nothing, he opened the window and stuck his head outside for a better view. At the bottom floor near his house seemed to be a note under a rock. Retreating back into the house and looking at the clock, Takato saw the time and it was almost about time that Ruki would drop by. Running downstairs, Takato zipped through the kitchen, ran for the door, and announced his leaving.

"I am going out for a little bit!" He said, running out the door.

"Takato, Wait!" Yoshie called after him, but Takato had already run out the door.

Outside, Takato removed the rock, picked up the note, and read it.

**Takato,**

**As you read this, Guilmon is in my hands. **

**Drop by at his little hiding place and we will talk.**

**Come immediately; do not think about bringing Ruki.**

**Or there is no telling what will happen to Guilmon.**

Takato held the paper tightly as he finished reading it, the feeling of horror overtaking him. Takato rushed to Guilmon's place, forgetting that Ruki was coming. _Oh no, he's got Guilmon... what am I going to do..._ Takato thought, with many thoughts and images going through his head as he hurried to where Guilmon was. Entering the park, Takato stopped to take a breath from the running. The park felt cold in the night, accompanied with darkness and winds blowing from one side to the other.

_Guilmon, please be safe..._ Takato thought once more as he rushed in to where Guilmon's shed. Entering the shed, Takato immediately noticed Guilmon tied up with ropes near the corner. Near his Digimon was the very same figure from yesterday--the target person or Digimon. Being out of breath from running and anxiety, Takato froze at the sight to catch his breath again. At the same time, the dark figure turned around to face Takato.

"Good. You've decided to come" The dreaded voice belonging to the humanoid filled the air.

"What do you want? And what are you anyway?" Takato questioned.

"Slow down there. First you disobey a command from earlier and now you expect me to answer questions? Don't you think you're going too far?" The enemy counter-questioned Takato.

Takato stood still for a time, thinking about the current issue before answering. "It's not that... Ruki only followed me around because of you! It's you who is causing trouble..." Takato spat out, getting nervous at the confrontation with Guilmon still bound up.

The figure did not move at Takato's comment. "Really now? I suppose then she'll be arriving soon. I guess I have no choice then..." finished the reply comment and reaching out a hand towards the tied up Guilmon.

"Takato..." Guilmon said, trying to squirm out of the bounded position.

"Stop! What are you going to do?" Takato asked, stepping forward.

"I really don't have much time to explain, perhaps after I..." The evil figure said, trailing off as Takato said something after him.

"No... Don't harm Guilmon..." Takato said, horrified at the thought of losing his friend. Gulping, Takato gathered his will to speak and making a decision. "...Take me instead"

The dark stalker stopped and gave Takato an interested look behind his covers and considered it. "Can't bear to lose your partner huh? Very well, this will give us our much needed time to talk and don't worry about Guilmon, I'll release him after this." At once, the figure standing before Takato brought out a large piece of cloth and threw it over Takato's face.

Within a few seconds, Takato felt a heavy pressure being pressed onto him as he slowly lost consciousness. Takato could hear Guilmon yelling for his name as he slowly fell to the ground, still having his eyes covered by the piece of cloth. _Guilmon... _Takato thought, before losing consciousness completely.

Meanwhile, Ruki was taking her time in walking to the bakery. She kept alert just in case if there are any strange noises coming from the area around her. Renamon followed behind and suddenly felt a faint rise of energy somewhere further away. Appearing in the shadows but in Ruki's sight, Renamon spoke.

"I sense something from further away, looks like some kind of struggle," Renamon reported as she and Ruki continued their progress slowly towards the bakery.

"Is it a Digimon?" Ruki asked, alerted at the fact that it might be their target.

"I am not entirely sure, but it was very small" Renamon replied.

Noticing that they arrived at their destination, Ruki ran up to the side door of the bakery and knocked on the door instead of waiting for Takato. Takehiro opened the door and recognized Ruki's immediately.

"Are you looking for Takato? He went out just awhile ago," Takehiro, informed.

"What!? To where?" Ruki asked, surprised that Takato wanders at this specific time.

"I think he may have gone to the park, or at least it looked that" Takehiro replied, and then seeing Ruki speed off.

_What's he thinking? That place is where he lurks the most. Does Takato have a death wish or something?_ Ruki thought to herself as she ran towards where the park is. Renamon followed behind without question, knowing that some issues are better explained later. Arriving at the park, the two stopped to think of where Takato would exactly be. Renamon felt a stronger feeling of the faint energies from earlier and came into existence in the clear night, as the park was empty.

"Ruki, it's that same feeling from earlier. Looks like it's coming from Guilmon's place" Renamon said, clearly noticing the strange aura of feeling.

Without saying another word, Renamon and Ruki rushed towards Guilmon's shed and entered. Inside, Renamon stood before Guilmon and examined the red dino's unconscious body. Ruki looked at the surrounding area, but Takato was nowhere to be found. Renamon awoke Guilmon, who slowly recognized his surroundings.

"Guilmon, what happened here?" Renamon asked, knowing that something happened.

"Oh, some evil-looking pile of clothes tied me up while I was asleep, and then Takato entered and they talked. Takato tried to rescue me, but then this pile of clothes took Takato away and then I fell asleep," Guilmon explained, to the best of what he could understand from the situation.

It did not take long for Ruki and Renamon to figure out whom the "pile of clothes" was. Ruki saw a note near where Guilmon was lying down; she picked up the note and inspected it. The piece of paper contained a sketch-map of the current location of the shed and directions to somewhere else.

"This is... Renamon, we have to go now," Ruki said, after interpreting the inviting directions on the map.

Walking out with Renamon, Guilmon followed along. "Hey wait, where is Takato?" Guilmon asked, still not understanding much of what just happened.

"Takato seems to have been taken hostage, we are going to find him" Renamon responded, and Guilmon only followed even though he lagged behind.

Arriving at the target location, the three of them noticed the giant warehouse that was in the area. It was an abandoned warehouse, but seem inviting to their situation.

Ruki tried to open the door from front but she noticed the doors were locked" It's locked, there must be another way in" Ruki said, looking around the area for ideas or ways into the building.

Guilmon only knew one solution: If Takato was in the building and needed help; he would do whatever to get in. Opening his mouth, Guilmon shot a crimson ball at the entrance doors. The fireball blasted through the doors, creating a huge racket of sound in the area.

Takato slowly open his eyes to the surrounding darkness around him. Realizing that he was inside a building, he wondered what happened while he was out. Trying to get up from his sitting position, Takato realized he was held back. Turning his head a little, Takato noticed his hands were tied around his back and to a metal pole. Behind himself and the metal pole was a large stack of crates, and there was little light from the moon reaching in as the room had small windows up high on the side walls only. The front walls looked gray and almost what looked like an old door.

"So... you're awake now I suppose..." came the voice emerging from the shadows.

Takato looked straight and saw his captor, and continued to struggle in his bounded position. The struggling proving to be no use, Takato only looked at the figure in front of him with helplessness in the dark room. "Just... who are you?" Takato managed to say in a low voice.

"Well, I guess there is time right now. Very well, I shall answer some of your questions quickly before telling you why you're here. First, get this straight: I am no Digimon; I am the same as you are. There, you happy now? Good. Now let's get onto the real thing..." Trailed off the stranger, as he took a breath from the long line. "Now, what about what I said earlier? You seemed to have completely ignored me on that command... in fact; you did the exact opposite, what's up with that?" The person finished, pointing a finger at Takato.

Takato thought for a moment, and then responded. "Why does any of this matter to you anyway!? And why did you even try stalking everyone and causing so much trouble?" Takato shot back, unsatisfied with the stranger.

"Oh, don't be mad, I know all about the truth, especially this," Said the figure, smirking behind his mask and holding up a certain picture in the light where Takato could clearly see.

Takato froze again; the picture had proved to be a hindrance to his life once again. Yet Takato could only think of why he kept the picture in the first place. After being bitten by the strange long silence, Takato replied with his usual excuse for the picture again. "It's not like that, that picture was taken by Ruki's schoolmates. And... Why does it matter to you anyway? You're just a stalker who's up to no good!" Takato said in an angrier voice, knowing that this person is clearly full of bad intentions.

The figure laughed at Takato's remark and stepped forward along with lowering his body a bit. Reaching out a hand that caught onto Takato's neck, he looked at the Goggle by with a pair of striking eyes under his cover.

Takato closed his eyes as he felt a slight squeeze from the person and trying to resist the predicted-pain that was to come.

"I have my own reasons, along with my own business to take care of. And as for you..." The dark figure trailed off, as a large explosion was heard on the wall.

Takato was released as his captor pulled away the hand and Takato slowly opened his eyes to see a familiar figure standing at the hole that the explosion caused. The new hostile figure stepped forward, revealing his red and black colours along with angry yellow eyes.

"Guilmon..." Takato whispered as he sees his Digimon slowly advancing towards himself.

"Looks like our time is up... but don't think that you're going to be let off that easily," Said the stranger as he fled behind Takato only to stop as Renamon appeared.

Ruki opened a rusty wall from the wall to the right side and successfully blocked the target's way of escape.

"Play time is over. I don't care if you're not a Digimon or not, but you are way overdue for some sense being knocked into you for the non-sense that you have caused!" Ruki said, eyeing the dark figure with much digest after eavesdropping on most of the conversation.

At the same moment, Renamon fired off Fox Leaf Arrowheads and Guilmon fired a Fireball at the enemy. The figure, rolled away and the attacks damaged the surrounding areas.

"Humph, it's far from over" The figure said, running towards the fourth wall and ramming it open, escaping into the night.

Guilmon looked in the direction of where the 'pile of clothes' escaped. Renamon jumped outside and saw the figure still running away at high speed. Turning around to face Ruki, she waited for some sort of instruction.

"Renamon, track him down. We'll be out in a moment," Ruki said, running to Takato and crouching down to untie the knots holding Takato down.

"Ruki, I..." Takato tried to say something, but could not finish because he thought he looked too ridiculous being kidnapped.

"Just keep quiet Gogglehead" came Ruki's immediate response, ripping through the knots of the hard ropes.

Untying the last knot, the ropes were release and Takato slowly stood up into freedom. Guilmon rushed to Takato and smiled as he saw his Tamer in one piece. At the same time, Ruki noticed a sheet of faint white on the floor and picked it up. Examining the contents, she remembered the whole picture issue. Although hearing it from the eavesdropping earlier, Ruki wondered why Takato still had the picture. Turning around to face Takato, she tried her best not to give in to her faint bit of rising anger.

"So why do you still have this?" Ruki asked, remembering that she dreaded the sight of such a picture as she questioned Takato.

"Oh that? Umm... I can explain..." Takato said, knowing that he was truly in trouble now that Ruki got hold of the picture. I need to think of something fast, what should I say? Huh? Takato questioned himself as he felt the picture being shoved towards him. Taking the picture back into his own hands, Takato looked up and saw Ruki leaving for the exit.

"You better have a good explanation Gogglehead, but right now we have a target to catch" Ruki said, running out of the old rusty building.

Takato quickly pocketed the picture and turned to Guilmon, who looked onto the scene with confusion as the Digimon did not know anything concerning the picture either. "Ok Guilmon, let's go... and thanks for saving me" Takato said, giving his partner a hug.

* * *


	13. Chapter 11

**

* * *

Chapter 11: Direction Confrontation - Part 2**

Rushing out of the warehouse and into the cold night again, Ruki took out her D-Arc to locate where Renamon have followed the running target. Getting a signal from the direction of the park, Ruki called to Takato.

"Looks like that coward went back to the park area. Look, you search the open areas and I will search the more enclosed areas. And don't let your pet get away from you, else you get beaten up again" Ruki said to Takato, leading the way to the park as Takato followed.

"Alright" Takato responded, splitting from Ruki with Guilmon and entered the park from the other side where there were clear and open areas. Looking around, there was silence and the only sound was the occasional wind blowing by.

"Takato, there is no here..." Guilmon said, not noticing anything in particular that was sticking out.

"I know boy, right now we should try to be quiet as he are trying to locate him" Takato replied, trying to keep things under control.

After walking for a few steps, the two heard a strange sound amongst themselves and Takato looked alertly around him to inspect where the sound was coming from.

"W-what was that?" Takato asked, still unable to locate where the sound came from.

"Oh Takato, I think I need more peanut butter bread. I am quite hungry," Guilmon said, giving off a smile.

"What? You hungry at a time like this? But I left some bread for you today already" Takato replied, a little surprised to see Guilmon feeling hungry even after eating all the bread.

"Well, I think I need more now because I finished them already" Guilmon responded.

Takato put his palm over his forehead, knowing that Guilmon was indeed eating more and more everyday and that Guilmon was in dire need of a diet. The short moment of thoughts were interrupted when a sound was heard from the bushes that alerted both the Tamer and Digimon.

Seeing the yellow fox-like Digimon, the two calmed down and waited for a message that was to come.

"There is nothing at our side as of now, but I did hear and see a tiny part of something heading your way. Keep alert and meet us at the open area ahead" Renamon said, and disappeared.

"Alright boy, we just have to search this area as we go along, but we do have to keep quiet so try to get your mind off food for awhile" Takato said to Guilmon, and slowly walking through the area with caution. Guilmon followed and tried not to complain about his stomach, and occasionally made some noises with his hunger.

Takato and Guilmon walked through the open areas slowly and keeping a lookout for anything that looked out of p_lace. Sure is quiet in here at night... hopefully tonight everything will be solved, and I wonder how Ruki is doing right now... wait, did I just say what I thought I said? _Takato said to himself, in thought as he and Guilmon proceeded through the next area without noticing much of its surroundings. Walking into the next area, Takato saw they were almost at the rendezvous point, but still keeping alert with Guilmon just in case of him appearing. Each moment passed by with much tension, but Takato and Guilmon safely made it to the point where they are supposed to meet up with Ruki and Renamon. Only when they arrived at the scene, they did not see anybody.

"That's strange... we were suppose to meet here" Takato said, noticing there was no trace of Ruki or Renamon appearing anywhere to give a report.

"Maybe they already got eaten by that pile of clothes," Guilmon suggested, making his own predictions.

"No Guilmon, they won't be eaten by him. He's not even a Digimon. Although you may somewhat right, they could be in trouble! Com'on Guilmon, we have to go" Takato said, a sudden rise of worries running over him.

Takato went ahead and Guilmon following from behind. They walked into a narrow path and looked around to see nothing in sight as well._ Where are they? _Takato thought as he looked around in the bushes that are vaster in the area to his right. At that same moment, a large rustle could be heard and Takato turned around to see him emerging from the bushes.

Jumping into the air, the dark figure kicked Guilmon in the head before the dino Digimon could react. Guilmon fell down dizzy and unable to move, while Takato stepped up and called to his Digimon. The dark figure did not stop there, he lunged forward and knocked Takato to the ground before the Goggleboy could react and pinned Takato down. Their location was beside a small stairway in the park that was a little hidden from the path.

"Let go..." Takato squirmed, trying to get free, but his stalker overwhelmed him and gained control.

Meanwhile, Ruki and Renamon searched their areas thoroughly to make sure that he was not getting away. Renamon had lost the running target from earlier, but managed to follow him into the general area. Having found nothing in the paths around them and with no noises since the one when they entered the area, Ruki only knew that they had to get going.

"Looks like he may not be around in this place anymore. Renamon, go to the point of meeting and tell Takato to keep guard again, I have a feeling that he may already be creeping around in that area," Ruki said, letting Renamon go ahead as ran towards the designated area.

Renamon started to run at higher speeds, knowing the matter was urgent if that person would be around Takato's location already. On the way, she noticed the unconscious Guilmon and landed in the area. Immediately she saw the figure having Takato pinned down on the ground. Only for a moment, she hesitated because Renamon knew that she may not be able to take on the enemy by herself, but on the other hand, Takato was in deep trouble. Coming to a final decision, Renamon raced by a few paces at an even faster speed and appeared in front of Ruki.

"Renamon! What's happening?" Ruki asked, seeing Renamon appear so suddenly.

The fox Digimon picked up Ruki and replied in a quick response. "Try to keep quiet; we have trouble ahead I believe."

Shifting back into Takato's location, Ruki saw it herself that he was there now. There was no action involved yet and Ruki with Renamon decided to listen a little bit form afar and finding out about this person before jumping into action.

"What do you want anyway?" Takato asked, not being able to move but talk.

"Well, I think it should be clear now that I need you to disappear," Replied the person.

"Why? This doesn't make sense, and what's Ruki got to do with this?" Takato asked, still confused at the figure's motives.

_What? Since when did this whole thing have to do with me? Gogglehead... you'd better explain..._ Ruki thought as she continued to listen in to the conversation.

"It should be obvious... you're a hindrance to Ruki..." Said the figure, giving of a smile behind his mask.

"You're just jealous aren't you... but I already told you, it's not what it seems with that picture..." Takato replied, thinking that if he were to get out of this event soon he would tear that picture apart.

"Jealous? Me? No... You see Takato, in life you don't always get what you want. Sometimes you do need to fight for things that you need or even pay sacrifices for it. Here, in my case I am not jealous, but rather just going through what I need to do in order to get what I want. You should know it by now, nothing in life is not fair. It is a harsh world out there, so don't expect life to be a fun-ride or easy-going. At this point in life, your parents still take care of you, but what happens when you grow up? You'll be living out in the world by yourself then, so what will you do, if you cannot get what you want? Simple, you do what it is necessary to achieve your goals. You have to acknowledge that, this is life. Right now, it is no different, I do what I need for mine and you must decide what you need to do. You've gone through a similar experience before... Fighting the D-Reaper and almost to the point of sacrificing your own life for Juri, is that not a cost you were willing to pay? You see, we are the same, using our power to achieve our goals... When powers collide for a similar or same goal, the winner gets victory and loser backs down. That is the basis of life Takato!" Explained the figure with his philosophy

Takato thought for a moment on what he just heard. Knowing that most of it was indeed true and thought provoking, but he came to his own conclusions. "Even so... not all conflicts have to end in violence! At least not this one anyway, you're just a monster! And how would you know anything about the D-Reaper or Juri anyway?" Takato replied. After, he squired to get free from the hold.

Breaking free, Takato went back a small length and standing up. The figure went back a few paces from Takato forcing him back, and quickly reacted. As Takato stood up, the figure lifted his left leg for a fast kick. The hit connected and Takato's piercing scream of pain almost filled the entire park area.

"Don't forget that all collisions do have to have a victor"

Ruki's eye widened at what just happened. The conversation was something to think about, but what she saw was very not acceptable. As Takato fell down on his knees and swiftly landing his body on the floor, Ruki started to walk towards the area where the event took place.

"Ruki!" Renamon said, noticing Ruki walking to the figure at a fast pace.

"Don't worry Renamon, just back me up incase if anything happens. I know what I am dealing with," Ruki said, rushing to the figure at a fast pace.

Running behind the figure, Ruki put her two hands onto his shoulders and pulled him back. With her right arm around the head part of his mask, Ruki's left hand grabbed the base of the mask and started to rip off the mask. The figure struggled against Ruki's hold but to no avail.

"Let go!" The figure said, still struggling to get free. A few seconds later, Ruki let go of the figure as the mask flew off his face and the figure flew to the small sets of stairway with his back against the stairway.

His face was no surprise to Ruki, after hearing all of his philosophy and considering what happened in the past week, Ruki knew who it was. The face was clearing belonging to Ryo.

Walking right in front of Ryo, Ruki looked down at the older boy with disappointment.

"I'll speak to you in just a moment," Ruki said, putting a foot at Ryo's chest area and pushing him. This caused Ryo to fall down the small set of stairs step by step while still in a sitting position.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ouch!" Ryo said, landing at the bottom.

Ruki turned to Renamon who appeared as Ryo 'slid' down the small set of stairs. Seeing Takato still on the ground writhing in pain, Ruki knew what to do. "Renamon, take Takato to somewhere safe, I can handle him by myself" Ruki said, walking slowly down the stairs to talk with Ryo.

Guilmon got up from his position and out of his dizziness as he saw Takato in pain. "Takato! What happened, big pile of clothes appeared?" Guilmon asked, not knowing what happened.

Renamon picked up the boy and turned her head to Guilmon. "Come, we have to get Takato to safety for now. Ruki will handle the rest," Renamon said, slowly bringing Takato out with Guilmon following.

Ruki appeared besides Ryo at the bottom of the steps, not facing him.

"Well Ryo, what have you got to say for yourself? Here everyone thought that there was some Digimon out somewhere trying to kill us all," Ruki said, waiting for a reply from Ryo.

"Ruki... look, it wasn't like this. I just wanted..." Ryo trailed off as Ruki interrupted him.

"None of your philosophy nonsense. I've heard it all. I don't know what you were thinking, but maybe you should rethink what you said yourself" Ruki injected, getting Ryo to think.

"Well, that's not what I meant" Ryo said in defence, and then another voice from the horizon interrupted their conversation.

"Ruki? What's going on here?" Asked the voice.

Turning to the direction of the voice, Ruki and Ryo saw Juri standing there with questioning eyes. Ruki knew it was too much explain in one part and turned around and prepared to leave.

"We just found Mr. Bushes out here, nothing much" Ruki finished, stepping up the steps and walking away from the scene.

Juri watched Ruki leave the scene, confused at what was happening and not recognizing Ryo in the darker clothing. After Ruki left the scene completely, Juri stepped up a few times and then recognized the face of Ryo, being appalled.

"Ryo... is that you? What happened here?" Juri asked, surprised to see Ryo involved.

"Well, it's... a long story. I think it's better not to tell" Ryo responded, standing up and trying to leave.

Juri stepped forward again, determined to know about what happened. "Ryo, tell me, what happened. Are you really the one who hid around in the bushes?"

Ryo sighed, there was no way out of this for him, and decided it would be better to tell the story to Juri. "Yeah, it's me alright. Let me explain in full detail" Ryo responded, sitting down at the bench nearby.

Juri followed and sat down at the bench as Ryo sighed again; there was a good reason why he had done his deeds. "I guess it all started when I met with Cyberdramon. That was the night where I won against Ruki in the finals. A fog appeared over the area and Cyberdramon called me over instead of him realizing. I went through and that's where my journey in the Digital world started, for ten months we've wandered around because he wants to get stronger and I was there because... well, I never had a Digimon before and thought that it was cool like that, and along with that I felt something, something that made me feel alive--the sensation of battle. However, that was for ten months, and during that time... Well, even before that, I never really had anybody as a friend. A human friend that is. After returning with you guys, I tried hard to befriend you all because we were all Tamers. At that point, out of the blue certain feelings starting developing around Ruki. I honestly don't know what happened here, but... I do think it's just hormones acting up since I am at the age, but even so... I think it was the feeling of jealously that overcame me and clouded my judgement when dealing with it. When I see Takato, I immediately believed that I must eliminate him to get to Ruki even though I knew that I don't want to do it because he was one of my friends. I just don't know what happened to me until now, I've let my own emotions get the best of me... heck, I don't even know why I am sharing this" Ryo finished, giving off a small chuckle at the last comment.

After telling the story, Ryo explained his actions in the past few days before Juri came into the scene.

"Ryo... but we're still your friends" Juri responded.

"What? Who?" Ryo asked, not sure what Juri meant.

"Everyone! Jenrya, Hirokazu, Kenta, Ai, Makoto, Shuichon, Takato and even Ruki. That's what friends are for; when one of us falls down, we pick up each other. I may not have Leomon around anymore, but none of them treats me any differently as a friend. Or just because I was taken captive inside that computer program, nobody blamed me for that. Ryo, you're our friend, we want to help you," Juri said, convincing Ryo that his world is not falling apart.

Ryo was silent for the moment and closed his eyes in thought. _She's right... I think I know now... the one hindering friendship wasn't anybody around me or the environment... it was me all along! I didn't trust people that much, and in turn just bottled up myself. Perhaps it's time for a change... _Opening his eyes, Ryo gave a soft response. "Thanks Juri... even for me there is still much to learn, but hey, I think I can make it through now that I have my new and old friends"

Juri smiled, it was nice helping a friend before they make the wrong decisions as she once did. Standing, Ryo faced Juri and spoke. "Looks like it's quite late, what were you doing out here anyway?"

"Oh, I was just out buying something for my step-mom, and then I heard a familiar scream at the direction of the park so I came to check" Juri responded.

"Then that scream you heard must have been..." Ryo trailed off, turning around in shame.

"Arf!" The voice of the puppet in Juri's hand said," You do not need to blame yourself for your past mistakes anymore, your friends will understand when Juri explains, so be happy!"

Ryo laughed, a talking sock puppet has to tell him such things, and it almost looked ridiculous to him. "Alright, com'on Juri. Let's get you home. We never know when a true threat could appear especially at this time of day," Ryo said, leading Juri home as he felt himself renewed from the inside.**

* * *

A/N:** The part where Ryo explains that Cyberdramon is calling him through the Digital field was in the _Digimon Tamers CD Drama_. The ten months that he spent in the Digital world, I am not one hundred per cent sure about, but I think I remember hearing from a forum discussion or elsewhere. In addition, I am aware of how Ryo developed in the WonderSwan games. However, Tamers seemed to have him met his Digimon in a different way to make things less complicated(That is, meeting Cyberdramon by going through the digital field rather then going through with _Digimon: Brave Tamer_ where Millenniumon and Monodramon fused into a Digitama that would eventually reach Cyberdramon). I used the _Tamers_' version instead of bringing Ryo's full story of beating Millenniumon throughout his games. Since Daisuke himself is writing the Tamers' story in this fanfic.


	14. Chapter 12

**

* * *

Chapter 12: Circle of Friends**

Ruki walked home slowly, thinking about the events just passed. _What was he thinking? He must have gone insane... who knows, I don't care for now... I did say for Renamon to take Takato elsewhere, but where? Maybe they went home, I'll need to go see._ Ruki thought as she picked up her pace and ran back to her house.

Renamon had explained the situation to Seiko and they had put Takato down in a vacant room to rest. Guilmon was also in the room, watching Takato's unconscious form. The front doors burst open as Ruki rushed in, Seiko stood up to greet her granddaughter.

"Ruki! You're home, what happened out there?" Seiko asked.

"A lot of things, I will explain later on. Did Renamon bring Takato here?" Ruki responded a little bothered at Takato's condition.

"Yes, it looks like that he'll be staying in the guest room for now and..." Seiko said, and then seeing Ruki run off into the direction of the room.

Arriving at the scene, Ruki noticed Guilmon, Renamon and the unconscious Takato. Observing Takato, the boy still looked in pain and Ruki only let out a small sigh as she felt a hand press on her shoulder.

"Ruki dear, he'll be alright; He just needs some rest right now. I called his parents; they are all right with this, Ruki? Are you alright?" Rumiko finished with the question after explaining the details.

"Yes..." Said Ruki bluntly.

Rumiko tried to speak again, but Seiko has stepped in and motioned for them to leave the two Tamers and their Digimon alone. Renamon quietly told Guilmon to take a rest now, sensing Ruki's need of quietness. Guilmon left the room and to lie down outside for his nap while Renamon disappeared.

Looking down at the boy, Ruki was in deep thought. _Was this whole thing really all about me? Why didn't Gogglehead say anything, and now here he is, don't know if he's even going to wake up... Even so, Ryo should have been more sensible and not do something like this._ Ruki thought, being disappointed at how everything turned out.

_I think I will get a better explanation from both of them tomorrow. Yet, why am I sitting here worrying so much about Gogglehead? Is it because he was struck? No, there is something that I can't quite describe... well whatever it is; I am not going to bother in this time of the night._ Ruki said to herself, getting up from the location and preparing to turn in for the night. Before exiting the room, she looked back at Takato, and then she sighed. After a brief moment's time, she came back into the room and looked at unchanged painful expression on Takato's face. Ruki then threw a short blanket over Takato and went out the room, closing the door.

Ruki went to her own room and lied down on her futon. The thought about the night's events and Takato still bothered her a great deal. _This is getting ridiculous, no use thinking about what Ryo was thinking or about Gogglehead for now..._ Ruki thought, drifting off into sleep.

The next day came, and Juri had woken up from her sleep. She was still wondering about how everything went through last night, and if Takato was going to be ok after last night's events. Not pressing the matter too much, Juri quickly got ready for school and headed out the door. Arriving at the school area, there was plenty of time left, and she sat down on a nearby bench and reviewed some of her notes while waiting for her friends to arrive. Time passed by and Juri only saw Hirokazu and Kenta enter the scene, she hid the truth away for now because of the people involved. School started, and Juri did not see Takato arrive during the first class.

_I wonder what happened, maybe the three of them are making up right now..._ Juri thought, seeing the emptiness in Takato's desk. Certainly, things like this would not be a worry, but she only hoped for the best as her friends literally clashed last night. At the first break, Juri was walking with her friends around in the outside areas, and in the corner of her eye, she saw Takato rushing into the school with his bag. Juri could not find an excuse to search for her friends and just left it alone for the time being. As soon as the second break started, Juri caught Takato running around the corner and stopped him with her sock puppet.

"Juri! You scared me again!" Takato said, taken back by the puppet as always.

Juri giggled at Takato's reaction to the puppet every time, and then her puppet spoke. "Takato, why are you so scared when you see me? I am only a dog"

"Ahhh ok... so what's up Juri?" Takato asked, not aware of Juri's intentions.

"Well, I think I need to speak to you about what happened during last night" Juri responded, in a more serious tone.

"What? How did you know about that?" Takato asked surprised to see Juri knowing about what happened.

"There is a lot to explain, I'll tell you as we walk to somewhere to sit down..." Juri said, leading the way.

Juri started by telling how she ran into Ruki and Ryo at the end of the park last night, and explained Ryo's story. Takato in turn exchanged information on what happened last night with himself and Ruki until he went unconscious. The truth was appalling to Juri, but she understood about the situation as they finished their conversation.

"Well, I didn't know about Ryo as a whole, he never said anything regarding that issue, so I didn't know... I guess I should see after school today..." Takato started, not knowing what Ryo was involved.

"I didn't either, but it looks like that he's not too bad when I talked to him... Takato? What do you think?" Juri asked.

"I can't much, this wasn't really his fault after all, it was what around him that made him like this, and still I have to go talk to him..." Takato finished, getting up from the sitting position and heading towards the school. He stopped when two familiar voices came into hearing range.

"Hey Takato! Why were you late this morning? Are you actually skipping school to go dating?" the voice of Hirokazu teased, as he and Kenta entered the scene.

"Yeah, and what was with that picture anyway?" Kenta mentioned, giving a grim smile at Takato.

Takato could not stop his own face from growing red as 'the picture' thing came up again. He had forgotten to tear the picture as he planned he would. The laughter from Hirokazu and Kenta increased as Takato could not formulate a response to defend himself and Juri smiled at the sight of the friendship among the Tamers. Juri knew that Ruki would be dealing with the two if she was here, but Juri understood that both Hirokazu and Kenta were merely being friends when they bug Takato in a joyful tone. The break was soon over, and Takato got his much-needed time away from his two friends. The rest of the school day went by slowly for the Tamers as their minds filled with different plans on how they were going to spend their day. Some thinking bugging others, another supporting friendship, yet another renewing a friendship.

The final bell for the school rung, and Takato rushed out as quickly as he could to get away from the two of his friends. There was a strange feeling for Takato, throughout the chaos of the past days, he still felt like he was under watch by someone and that he would have to rely on somebody else for protection, or Ruki specifically._ It sure feels weird to be free again... but I think I can get used to it._ Takato thought as he rushed to Guilmon's hideout place to drop off some bread. When Takato entered the shed, Guilmon jumped on him out of excitement and Takato once again, felt lots of pain.

"Yeah, I am ok boy, just get off, you're really heavy!" Takato groaned until the weight of his Digimon.

Guilmon continued to laugh after getting off; the dinosaur could not contain his excitement to see Takato again after worrying all of last night. There was a brief pause when Guilmon sensed another Digimon in the area, and turning around Monodramon appeared and jumped up in laughter seeing Guilmon. The two Digimon circled around in the shed a few times before running outside. Takato knew by Monodramon's appearance that Ryo was nearby. Exiting the shed, Takato looked left and right, there was nothing. He decided to walk down the steps of the park to look for Ryo instead. As he reached the bottom, Takato felt a hand on his shoulder, and turning around there was Ryo.

"Ryo! There you are" Takato said, a bit of fear growing inside of himself.

"Hey Takato... can we talk?" Ryo said, trying to brighten up the atmosphere.

"Yeah alright... so..." Takato started, leading the way as both he and Ryo sat down on the grass where they could see their Digimon running around.

"Alright, so I am sure you've heard from Juri already... and well, I really don't have much to say in this case... Looks like I made a horrible mistake, and I just don't know if any of you guys will look at me the same way as before" Ryo admitted.

"Ryo, we all make mistakes. This wasn't even your fault considering your conditions. Besides, you never told us about it, so we couldn't help you... Also, can I tell you a story?" Takato said in response.

"Well, alright..." Ryo replied, waiting.

The next few minutes Takato told his story of how he lost himself during the battle with Beelzebumon and the bringing of Megidramon. Finishing with how his friendship with Juri almost went beyond repair because of that one event.

"You're not the only one with mistakes, that one mistake I made back there still haunts me in some way" Takato finished.

"Oh is that so... Well, I guess we should just move on. Thanks for understanding though. Nevertheless, how is everyone going to believe me besides you and Juri? I mean, Ruki sure isn't going to believe this" Ryo questioned, unsure of the status of the other Tamers.

"Don't worry too much about it, Ruki may take some time, but I think she'll understand... And as for Hirokazu and Kenta... well, they still believe some Digimon is out there stalking me, so..." Takato trailed off, having an evil plan forming at the back of his head.

"So?" Ryo asked, unsure of Takato's motives.

Takato leaned over to Ryo and whispered into his ears on the solution for the two. Ryo leaned away and returned a smile, it was quite a plan that Takato had thought up. At that same time, Juri's voice entered the scene.

"Takato! Ryo! Are you guys..." She trailed off as Takato quickly interrupted.

"Yeah, don't worry about us, we just have something to do right now..." Takato said, following Ryo to where their Digimon were playing. Speaking to Monodramon, the small Digimon smiled and laughed as he ran into the bushes while Guilmon stood confused at what just happened.

"I think they're just about here, get ready Ryo" Takato said, as he stood relatively innocent beside Ryo.

Hirokazu and Kenta arrived at the scene, their attention swayed away by Ryo's appearance, and then Ryo and Takato's plans went into action.

"Hey guys, I think I hear something, it's him again I believe!" Takato said in a false voice that showed signs of him being scared.

Hirokazu and Kenta froze, then they realized what they must do, running in front of Takato, they put on big smiles as they started to search the area. Juri followed along with the four boys as their plan went into action. Around the corner, Jenrya appeared with Terriermon and questioned what the rest of the group was doing with their slow movements.

"Hey guys, what's going on here?" Jenrya asked, as Hirokazu and Kenta's eyes shifted from one end of the park to another.

"Oh, Takato here thinks that he hears the intruder nearby and we're just out looking for him" Ryo explained, drawing Jenrya into the plan, as he knew Terriermon would want to play along.

"Sounds like fun! We should help too!" Terriermon cheered, jumping around, while Jenrya went into thinking. _Something doesn't seem right here though... how are they so sure all of a sudden that they can find this person?_ Jenrya questioned as he followed the leading pair.

Takato turned to face Ryo, and Ryo smiled and nodded. Takato smiled in return, knowing their plan draws two more victims. A huge rustle in the bushes became apparent to the nearby the Tamers, and both Hirokazu and Kenta looked in the direction alerted while Terriermon watched intently. A snapping sound ripped through the air and before the three unaware Tamers with the one Digimon could react, Monodramon and Guilmon jumped out yelling out loudly in joy. The action made Hirokazu and Kenta jumped away and fall onto the ground while Terriermon withdrew while Jenrya felt a heartbeat skip. Ryo and Takato burst out laughing as they lead their friends into the trick. Shortly afterwards, Jenrya turned to eye the two Tamers.

"You guys set this whole thing up all along didn't you?" He asked, knowing that it was no longer a big secret.

"Set-up what? We didn't do anything..." Takato replied, still trying to act innocent.

Terriermon sprung up on Jenrya's head in indignation. "How dare you guys do that, we have to teach you a lesson!"

Terriermon was joined by Hirokazu and Kenta as they stood up, knowing the whole thing was a fraud. Before any running could occur, Ruki's voice interrupted the scene.

"What are you all doing? Playing some sort of silly game?" Ruki asked looking at how ridiculous; everyone was as Juri followed behind her.

Hirokazu and Kenta retreated, knowing that Ruki would instantly mean bad news for them. Jenrya held on to Terriermon and retreated with the two as he held Terriermon down from doing unnecessary actions. While Ryo took in his courage and stepped up to Ruki

"Hey Ruki..." Ryo started, hoping not to make Ruki explode.

"What?" Ruki responded harshly.

Takato and Juri tried to intercept on Ryo's behalf, but he held up his hand for them to stop. "Look, what I did was a mistake, can't you just forgive me? We're all friends, aren't we?" Ryo said.

Ruki did not respond immediately, she turned around and started to leave. Ryo stepped up again and tried to speak, but Ruki spoke first.

"Whatever... just don't do that again..." She said, continued to walk into another section of the park, but stopped when Culumon jumped out of nowhere and laughed as Ruki flinched at the immediate appearance of the small Digimon.

Takato turned to Ryo and spoke. "Looks like everything is fine now... see? You've got nothing to worry about, you have us!" Takato said, smiling.

Ryo smiled himself, today he made good new and old friends. "Yeah, thank you... Anyway, lets all play a game of Tag with our Digimon, Ruki will be it!" Ryo declared, running away.

Ruki immediately turned to face Ryo, knowing it was some kind of sick joke. "Hey! What are you trying to pull?" Ruki said, as she noticed everyone running wildly away. Renamon soon appeared besides Ruki and faced her.

"Well, looks like everything is solved and everyone is just out for fun, so why not join in?" Renamon questioned, and then started to run in the general direction.

"Renamon!" Ruki called, but her Digimon only continued running. Giving in to the temptation, Ruki sighed as she ran towards the others. _Oh well, guess it can't be helped... now, first up Gogglehead!_ Ruki thought as she gives off her own smile and aimed for the Goggleboy.

------

Daisuke dropped down his pen, the work he had done throughout the night was intense, but he had done it. Looking at the clock, he noticed it was about half-hour before school started. Chibimon was also rising, and Daisuke knew that soon school would start. Packing his bag but leaving his notebook behind, we was ready to face the day.

As Daisuke reached the school, he felt exhaustion for the first time within three days he felt tiredness._ I am... actually tired... Looks like writing those three chapters really drained me... oh well; all I have to do is act cool and get my well-deserved rest when I get home._ Daisuke thought as he walked slowly towards his class.

In class, Daisuke faced the challenge of keeping his eyes open; his eyelids would keep falling over his sight. Daisuke's vision also blurred every once in awhile as he tried to push himself in taking notes. Break finally arrived and Chibimon noticed his partner's sluggish movements along with exhaustion.

"Daisuke, what's wrong?" Chibimon asked from the bag.

"Nothing... I just did not sleep as much as I want last night..." Daisuke lied, even though he was going to get some sleep tonight, he still had to keep his act just in case if any of his friends would catch him being unusual._ I just need to make it through today, get some sleep and then everything will be all right..._ Daisuke thought as he started his way back into school with a smile of satisfaction from last night's work.

During the next class, Daisuke was able to keep his eyes from shifting away randomly, but trembling hands and headache were present. _What's wrong? I can't even.._. Daisuke thought, as the teacher called him to read the next part of the textbook. Struggling to his feet, Daisuke took a deep breath and then read the paragraph with whatever strength he could muster. Daisuke's voice had every hint of exhaustion in them, but the class and the teacher only continued as Daisuke crashed back down into his seat. Looking downwards at the textbook, Daisuke tried to move his hands to pick up the book but his body did not react as he continued his hard breathing. Soon, dizziness started to surface, and Daisuke leaned over and gripped his head in pain. With the agonizing minutes seemingly like days for Daisuke, the moment of salvation came when the bell had rung.

Still breathing hard, Daisuke gathered his books slowly along with his bag and headed out the classroom. Outside, Chibimon popped out of Daisuke's bag and questioned the boy again. The environment around them was busy, as Daisuke took another route that would be longer with more people around, but it was safe from any unneeded conversations.

"Daisuke... you should have just gone home, look at you now... huh?" Chibimon noted, as Daisuke stopped moving suddenly.

Daisuke was silent; he could not move his body. The world around him seemed to shift back and forth, but he was not moving. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but he failed to do so. _W-what's happening? Why is... _Daisuke thought as he heard a thumping sound inside his head and shadows starting to cover his eyes. _I am..._ were Daisuke's last thoughts as the shadows covered his vision completely and all thoughts had stopped.

* * *


	15. Intermission 2

**

* * *

Revitalisation**

Daisuke slowly awakened in his mind as voices were heard. _Where am I?_ He thought, still seeing blackness around himself. The voices increased in volume for Daisuke as he slowly felt himself regain control of his own body. _What happened to me?_ Daisuke thought as he opened his eyelids a tiny bit where a piercing blinding light poured in. Slowly Daisuke opened his eyes and observed the white ceiling, along with recognising the familiar voices in the room. Closing his eyes again, he though for a moment. _Why am I in the hospital? Did something happen? Wait, last thing I remember was walking back home and... Ah, never mind. I think it's time to get up, whoever is in this room talks so loudly._

Very suddenly, Daisuke sprang up from the bed and sat up in his position. Immediately he already felt a sharp pain returning at the back of his head and closed his eyes in pain.

"Whoa! Slow down there Daisuke, you can't move so suddenly after what just happened," Said a friendly voice from close by.

Daisuke opened his eyes again, and he saw Taichi beside him. "What? What happened? Why am I here?" Daisuke questioned, still unsure of his current location.

"I am not surprised you don't know. You fainted right in the middle of the streets and then there was an ambulance rushing by us," Said another voice in the room, belonging to Yamato.

"Really? Well, I think I am fine now... I really should go home now, or my parents will get worried," Daisuke said, trying to get up, but the two older boys held him down.

"Your family knows about it... just get some rest right now before you worry everyone else. Luckily we were around when the ambulance passed by" Taichi said in response to Daisuke.

With the dizziness crawling into Daisuke's head again, he leaned his head back and fell asleep as his head hit the pillow. Moments later, Daisuke found himself waking up again, and this time his head felt better without pounding pain inside.

"So the sleepyhead finally decides to wake up huh?" Said a different voice from the background.

Daisuke turned around and saw something that immediately restored his headache, Jun.

"What are you doing here?" Daisuke said, sitting up and pointing his finger aggressively at his sister.

"What am I doing here? To get someone worthless out of the hospital once he feels fine. Having the doctor calling the house in the middle of the day to hear that you of all people fainted in the middle of the streets," Jun explained in an angry voice.

Daisuke lay down again, putting the back of his hand over his forehead. It certainly was not worth the time to argue with Jun especially when the mere sight of her brings a headache. Jun noticed the silent Daisuke and walked up to the bedside. Putting one hand on her brother's shoulder, he got his attention.

"Really, why in the world did you faint all of a sudden like that anyway?" Jun asked, changing to a more calm and reassuring voice.

Daisuke let out a deep sigh, it was going to be hard explaining, but he had to explain it so he could get back home sooner to rest in the comfort of his own bed. Slowly Daisuke opened his mouth and began the story of his seemingly unlimited source of energy, then his staying up during the nights with reading and working of school-related things. Daisuke left out the writing of his story, which would have roused up many other questions. Daisuke closed his eyes again, although much of his sickness from earlier has subsided, tiredness still grab onto him. Before Jun left the room, she passed something onto Daisuke.

"Your friends told me to give you that," She said, then leaving the room.

Daisuke opened his eyes and picked up the card that landed on him. Opening the card, he read the message inside.

**Daisuke,**

**We were all going for a trip to the park for the tough**

**week of school. However, when we heard that you fainted**

**in the middle of nowhere, we got worried and came to **

**visit you. What worried us more was that you looked**

**terrible at that time. Looks like you had the worst of **

**the week huh? Anyway, we just want to say that we are **

**here for you, so don't be afraid to speak to us when**

**things get hard, we all face hard times. We especially**

**hope that you get better soon!**

**P.S. Do not worry about Chibimon, Hikari took him back**

**to your house on the way.**

**-Your Friends.**

Daisuke let out a small laugh after reading the message. It was funny. He had just written about Ryo's independence from his friends and then making a mistake, and now that exact same lesson has come right back at himself._ What a way to bring out a story... _Daisuke thought, leaning back into rest, but this time with a smile of satisfaction. Falling into dream world, Daisuke found himself seeing some sort of light instead of the usual darkness of his sleeping mind.

_Where is this place?_ Daisuke thought, looking around to see yellow, green, blue and faint red lights filling the place. Another thing Daisuke noticed is that he is floating in the middle of the strange universe. The lights continued to fly around in the area and Daisuke could not being to figure out where to look to understand this place. Shortly after, Daisuke could hear the sound of some other entity emerging from his right side of the space.

"Daisuke..." called an unknown voice.

"Huh? W-who's there?" replied Daisuke as he looked towards the area to see a light-emitting sphere.

"Daisuke..." called the voice again.

"What? Who are you?" Daisuke asked as he tried to face the area of white.

"The time is close... you must be prepared... Daisuke!" Said the voice.

"What are you talking about? Where am I?" Asked Daisuke, unsure of what the light said or what is going on.

"Daisuke!" called a more familiar voice.

"What?" Daisuke questioned as he noticed the space he is in distorting. The light sphere that appears before him seemed to have disappeared and Daisuke could not figure out what was going on, and again the same voice from before called to Daisuke in a louder voice.

"Daisuke!!" Said the booming voice of Jun as Daisuke got up from his sleep with a newfound headache. Realizing the current place, Daisuke formulated a response for his motor-mouth sister.

"Shut up..." Daisuke said.

"Oh, is that all you have to say? Com'on! We're leaving now; I am not carrying your rotting body!" Jun said in response.

Daisuke shifts the conversation mood as he heard a hint of freedom for him. "We can go now? What did the doctor say?"

"Oh, they said it was just a normal vasovagal syncope. Those are not life threatening and this occurrence is probably caused by a number of factors. You never had a case of this before in your medical records, so it was ok to take you home when you feel better. Seriously though, what in the world did you do for the last few days?" Jun finished.

Daisuke rubbed his head to ease the pain from not only Jun's yelling from earlier, but also the things he had to comprehend after hearing Jun talk. "Well, I think I can explain later, right now I want to go home..." Daisuke said, jumping off the bed and taking his card with him.

Without much more trouble in the hospital scene or anywhere else, Jun lead Daisuke home in a rather quiet phase. Arriving home, Daisuke entered his room and flew down onto his bed. Chibimon jumped out of the way, as Daisuke flew down on his bed.

"Daisuke... you've been lying to me! What happened to you?" Chibimon asked, stepping beside his partner's head.

"I've been full of energy lately, and I didn't know what to do with it, so I stayed up for three nights and last night having written three chapters I was burned out for today, so let me sleep now..." Daisuke said in an unclear and muffled voice in his pillow. Daisuke did say enough for Chibimon to know about the three new chapters that was finish during the night, and the small Digimon jumped to the table and pulled out the notebook to read while Daisuke enjoyed his sleep.

Next morning, Daisuke got up from his slumber and feeling that he was at full of energy again._ Finally, I feel a lot better then yesterday... I guess I should just take it easy for now..._ Daisuke thought, then looked over to his clock and noticed he had twenty minutes to get ready and go to school. Ok, maybe not...

Chibimon open his eyes shortly after, hears the constant rustling sounds around the room, and noticed Daisuke frantically getting ready to school. The small Digimon smiled at the sight, it was funny to see Daisuke rushing to do things. However, Chibimon soon was pulled into the rush as Daisuke packed his bag and took the small Digimon into his bag and sped out of the house.

Outside, Daisuke started to run at full speed towards his school. I_ really shouldn't be doing this... but in this case, I have no choice, I have to endure much of this in soccer anyway._ Daisuke thought as he continued to speed through a few other students that took their time in walking to school.

In the school grounds, Takeru and Hikari were walking briskly as they neared the school and walking through the playground area.

"Yesterday came out as quite a shock, I didn't expect that" Hikari said, starting a conversation.

"I didn't either, and why it happened was beyond me..." Takeru replied, then hearing a call from their back that halted their movement.

"Hey! Good Morning!" Said the loud voice of Miyako as she entered the scene with Iori.

"Good Morning Miyako, Iori" Hikari greeted as she waved.

The four began to talk a little until Iori brought up his thoughts.

"So, has anyone seen..." Iori said as the group was interrupted by a noise.

Near the group's quiet location was a fence that was about two times Takeru's height and along with the rising sun made the playground-area look delightful with green bushes. The specific sound that they hear was one coming from the top of the fence. Looking up, a frantic Daisuke jumped off the fence and landed right on the ground just a few paces away from the group.

"Argh!" Daisuke yelped in pain as he landed from the heavy impact, but his mind forced him to keep running and ran towards the school.

"Hey! I think I just saw a little someone who has been avoiding us on purpose lately!" Miyako said, as her eyes began to stir up in fury after knowing the events of yesterday.

"He has a reason for being in such a hurry right now though; school starts in about one minute!" Iori noted and the four of them sped inside to school.

The first classes started slowly for Daisuke as he expended some unnecessary energy arriving at school, but break time came and it was his divine time of rest. Knowing that Miyako would be least understanding in what happened in the last few days, Daisuke avoided crossing her path for the time being. Knowing Iori would probably read him like an open book, Daisuke decided against seeing him as well. Takeru would probably force answers out of him, so Daisuke also avoid seeing the bearer of hope. Hikari would be no different in pressing the matter out of friendship, so he avoided them completely.

_Ok, so what will I do if anyone of them comes up to me? This is not working... _Oh well, maybe I should sit down and wait for them to find me... Daisuke thought as he lay down and leaned his back towards the wall at the roof. Closing his eyes, Daisuke let himself relax, and maybe go about writing his story as he took out the notebook and pen, then beginning to write.

**Chapter 13: afterwards**

"Wait... that sounds too stupid, no!" Daisuke said as he crossed off what he wrote and drawing back into thinking again. _Hmmm, how should I go about with this?_

**ChapttyerL: Th**

Daisuke noticed his mistake and immediately crossed off what he wrote again as he noticed the obvious mistake. Chibimon appeared on Daisuke's shoulder as Daisuke keep to thinking how he should write the next chapter of his story.

"Daisuke? Why aren't you writing?" Chibimon asked, seeing the crossed out words on the paper.

"Well, I can't think of a title, so..." Daisuke trailed off, thinking about the story again.

"How about just writing the story and then getting the title later? I am surprised you still have something to write after those three chapters." Chibimon commented.

"Of course I still have things to write, you're talking to the number one genius here!" Daisuke replied happily.

Daisuke continued writing his story leaving a space for a chapter title later. Chibimon only laughed as he worked out the logic at that situation. Daisuke claims to be a genius while thinking up a chapter title is hindering him from writing.

**Chapter 13: **

Takato woke up and was late for school.

"Wait! That's just too much of a repeat of what happened this morning, I don't want that..." Daisuke said, crossing out the sentence. Chibimon only looked towards Daisuke without much hope in his partner's writing urge today. Daisuke laid his pen onto the paper and began to form a sentence again.

It has since a month. since Ruki and much of the other people got into their friends's of circle or. is now now well goign. Takato lots much have freedom fun problem Ryo solving, as if now additionally. Takato problem of new Ruki and thinking much of

Chibimon got very confused as Daisuke wrote the few sentences and decided to question the writing. "Daisuke, no offence, but I can't read a thing you're writing!" Chibimon noted.

Daisuke stopped his writing and silence filled the air for a short time. "I know..." Daisuke softly replied, writing a big "X" over the poorly done "writing". Afterwards, Daisuke ripped out the page and tossed it away. There was too much mess on that page for it to continue. Letting out a sigh, Daisuke closed the notebook and leaned back to relax instead. Chibimon noticed the lack of motivation in Daisuke at the moment but not knowing the cause. The small Digimon thought a little bit and came to one conclusion: Hikari.

Turning towards Daisuke, Chibimon got the demotivated human's attention. "Daisuke, I know it's about Hikari isn't it? Maybe you should say something..." Chibimon suggested, and then saw an extremely threatening glare from Daisuke's eyes that pierced him.

"Chibimon... if you really must know... this is writer's block! This has nothing to do with Hikari and for a fact that I've gotten over that!" Daisuke barked in a slightly more angry voice, giving Chibimon the warning not to repeat the question. A shadow went over Daisuke as he turned his face away from Chibimon.

"... Takeru" Daisuke said, noticing the presence of his friend.

"Hey, so are you feeling better?" Asked the bearer of hope as he sat down beside Daisuke.

"Yeah... a lot better..." Daisuke responded, gathering himself together hoping that Takeru had not heard anything prior to appearing.

"So... do you mind telling me what seems to be the problem?"

Daisuke stayed silent for a moment, he knew that it would be no problem telling the truth, but it is the third night that would be a problem to lie or deter.

"Daisuke, I am not going to force you... but it was just that all of us were worried when we heard about what happened to you"

"Yeah I know, but I think I am fine now... What it really is just a small case of insomnia, I couldn't sleep for three nights and then I think I just... fainted" Daisuke said slowly, keeping the suspicion down.

"Three nights!? Wow Daisuke, I am kind of surprised that you're even here today!" Takeru exclaimed, appalled at the fact.

Daisuke turned to Takeru and smiled, at least his words got him out of the situation. "Well, don't worry about me; I am king of the world!" Daisuke said, jumping up and showing his energy.

Takeru smiled back at Daisuke, there was absolutely nothing that could change Daisuke's person. Nothing. After Daisuke left the scene with Chibimon, Miyako along with Iori and Hikari appeared from their hiding place and faced Takeru.

"Well, looks like the truth is out. Quite frightening if you ask me, if it wasn't Daisuke anybody else would not have been able to survive I am sure" Takeru concluded.

The others nodded in agreement as the bell ringed to return to class for them. The rest of the day went by normally for once, as Daisuke kept his fake position to show his attention in class. _This is boring... at least before everything seemed more interesting with keeping everything hidden... say, what made me lose interest in everything anyway? It used to be fun pretending..._ Daisuke thought, as the teacher seemed to babble on about irrelevant things. As agonizing as it seemed, the time did go by fast and Daisuke finally found freedom. For the first time in awhile, Daisuke rushed out of the classroom for the first time and enjoyed the freedom that lay ahead of him with a big grin. Running at a similar speed when getting to school, Daisuke passed his friends without noticing, getting their full attention.

"Hey Daisuke! What's up with you!? Don't you even know we're here!?" Miyako's indignant voice shouted as Daisuke blew wind into his friends.

Daisuke did not hear Miyako's shouts as he continued to rush at full speed away from the scene while Hikari put a hand on Miyako's shoulder to calm Miyako's anger.

"Did you forget what we heard this afternoon? He's probably just stressed out" Hikari said.

Miyako let out a sigh and then continue to bark in a relatively lower volume voice. Keeping on her beliefs that Daisuke is purposely ignoring the group and is doing something unimaginable by her stubborn assumptions. Knowing that Miyako may be overreacting Iori, Hikari and Takeru tried to smile their way through Miyako's semi-yelling that still drew attention.

Daisuke opened his door to his room and threw his bag down while taking out Chibimon and his notebook.

"I really should have stayed home instead of going to school today, but whatever..." Daisuke said as he settled down into his chair with his notebook opened and pen in hand.

Chibimon jumped up onto the desk and looked at the blank paper, with Daisuke not knowing what to write again. Normally Chibimon would have loved to tease Daisuke with the Hikari-related issues, but from the reaction earlier, Chibimon refrained from doing so.

"Ok, this sucks... maybe we should go cool down again" Daisuke said as he picked up hit notebook along with Chibimon and opening a gate with his D-3. Arriving at the Digital World, Daisuke walked a few steps forward and reached out his hands, the air was blowing at a moderate speed that it felt refreshing and the location they landed was very grassy and clam area.

"Oh, this place seems like a good place to rest. After all, you do seem a little out of ideas today," V-mon said, laying down and watching the sky pass by. Daisuke did the same thing and lie down beside his partner, enjoying the warming feeling as the sun shined over the grass area. Closing his eyes, Daisuke felt rest covering all over him, while V-mon manages to give Daisuke a nudge that got his attention refocused.

"Daisuke, do you have that story with you? I still have that one last chapter to read. Who would have thought that it turned out like that, and where did you get these ideas anyway?" V-mon asked, with his eyes closed and hand out for the book.

Daisuke handed V-mon that book and explained. "Well, I honestly don't know. But I was staying up all night and just processing through whatever came to my mind." Daisuke closed his eyes again and fell into a state of torpor. A blinding light in Daisuke's eyes seemed to awaken him from his slumber, but opening his eyes Daisuke noticed he was in the world of swirling lights again. Shortly after entering the world, the voice called to him again.

"Daisuke... the time is not far... you must be ready," Said the voice, appearing as a white sphere again.

"What? What time? Be ready for what?" Daisuke questioned.

"There will be a time where there is nowhere to hide... and you are the key to ensure survival for your kind..." Replied the voice in a warning tone.

"Huh? Me? What do I have to do?" Daisuke said, unable to comprehend the words.

"That you must figure out yourself, but for now do not delay! Go forth and provide the way of escape, or else all will be doomed" Warned the voice one last time before retreating.

"Wait! What is this end you're talking about? And who are you!?" Daisuke questioned, trying to rush forward in the light world.

"All will be explained when the time comes, for now you must get back on track. Here, use this it will help," Said the voice form the white sphere one last time before fading away. A small white sphere with green light emitted from it flew towards Daisuke.

The orb flew at a high speed and landed on Daisuke's chest. Not knowing what exactly the object is, Daisuke grabbed his chest area as if feeling pain. After a brief moment, the orb exploded and caused a wave of green energy to cover the place, and Daisuke felt the biggest recovery he has ever felt. There was a shaking that brought Daisuke out of his torpor state as he opened his eyes again to see the dark sky. Sitting up, Daisuke noticed that V-mon was awake as well.

"Daisuke! You're awake! We should head back now, we slept for too long!" V-mon explained.

"Yeah... it would appear so..." Daisuke said, taking his book and standing up to find their way home. The one significant thing for Daisuke was that he felt better then any other time of his life. Even better when he thought he had infinite energy. _Was that really just a dream? _Daisuke thought as he and V-mon headed for a way back into the real world.

* * *


	16. Chapter 13

* * *

Although energized through the mysterious orb in his dream, Daisuke felt drowsiness crept over him as he and Chibimon enters his room. Without much to say, Daisuke fell down onto his bed, leaving off the homework until tomorrow morning. Waking up the next morning as the sun's light lightened up the room; Daisuke felt the biggest surge of energy in him. Not just physically, but mentally as well. _Hmm, this is strange... maybe the last time I felt so much energy was from "him" as well?_ Daisuke questioned as he got ready his schoolbooks and his story. Chibimon awoke and looked at the time, it was still very early and Daisuke was up fully prepared to go to school and enjoying breakfast without him. Jumping up, Chibimon joined the table for food as Daisuke smiled at Chibimon's voracious appetite. 

After breakfast, Chibimon got into his usual spot in Daisuke's bag and they went to school at a slow pace compared to yesterday's hectic rush. Walking at the slow pace, Daisuke began to notice how calm everything in the morning is before school actually starts, and in the corner of his eye, he catches someone up early as well. Speeding up his pace a bit, Daisuke caught up to the figure and called to him.

"Takeru!" Daisuke's voice rang out, but not loud enough to rouse the neighbourhood.

Turning around, the other boy looked at Daisuke with half surprise and half joy.

"Hey, Daisuke. You're up very early this morning. You feeling better now?" Takeru asked in greeting.

"Of course! A hundred times better!" Daisuke bragged, forming a large smile on his face.

_Same old Daisuke..._ Takeru thought as he smiled at his friend that was slowly walking towards the school's direction. "Daisuke, where are you rushing off to?"

"To school" replied Daisuke as he turned around.

"Umm, we... still have about thirty minutes..." Takeru stated, looking down to his watch.

"Oh..." Daisuke dumbly responded as he stopped in his tracks.

Without much talk, Takeru gestured for Daisuke to follow him. The two boys walked a quick trip around the school grounds at the beach and having the silence of waves crashing onto the beach. The silence had a calming effect on both of them and the only hint of noise that filled the air is Chibimon and Patamon from their bags running around.

"Wow, I never knew this place is so relaxing at this time of day..." Daisuke said.

"Yeah, it is the best place to rest before school starts, especially with what school have been throwing at us..." Takeru finished, eyebrows dropping a bit as he remembered his many assignments and tests for the day.

"Well, thanks. We should head back now," Daisuke said, as he got up and their Digimon rushing back.

School today was different then any other day for Daisuke, the new energy he got from the orb in his 'dream' before proved to keep him alert on all levels, but he still ad no idea what to do with the surplus of energy. Finishing all assignments with ease and accuracy, the first part of the day went by relatively fast, yet boring for Daisuke. Finally school ended and Daisuke slowly sneaked home, knowing that Miyako would be out hunting him down after "ignoring" her phone calls all of yesterday since he was sleeping. Getting home, Daisuke felt no drop in his energy as he took out his notebook and pen and placed them on his desk.

"Well, it's been awhile..." Daisuke said as he opened his notebook and picked up the pen. Chibimon appeared besides Daisuke and the notebook as Daisuke began to write.

**Chapter 13: Warmth**

A few black clouds hovered over the area of Shinjuku; although there is no rain the weather, conditions were cold and windy at the city.

Two weeks had passed by since all the Tamers returned to "normal" in terms of friendship and events around the city concerning the Tamers. However, in the minds of two of the Tamers, certain thoughts were a plague to their minds as their time spent before had an impact on how they think. The two unfortunate Tamers were Takato Matsuda and Ruki Makino, there was a little something missing since they last seen each other. The two weeks passed by had been a good time to get away from each other, but it proved to be troublesome as more thoughts poured through.

Takato got up from his bed; again, some unwanted thoughts of Ruki entered his mind. Takato himself is not aware of what would be the cause, and it only caused discomfort the more he thought about it. Takato sat down by his desk and took out his drawing book, the one thing that always helped him get his mind off certain things. Opening the book, a piece of paper dropped out, and Takato reached over and picked up the picture. Looking at the picture as he picked it up, his face started to turn red. It was happening again, as if fate was working its way into the boy's life. The picture was the very same picture that Takato had sworn to tear apart once he got the chance. He never did. For some reason, he still feels there is a reason to keep the picture. Takato let out a sigh as he placed the picture back into his drawing book and closed it.

_I don't believe this... everything is resolved and everyone is happy, but... somehow I just feel there is something that's not right... and why do I keep thinking about Ruki?_ Takato thought as he closed his eyes in thinking. Trying to get his mind off the thinking, Takato decided to head outside despite the cloudy weather. As he was heading out, his mother had called to him.

"Takato, don't forget an umbrella and don't say out for too long!" Yoshie said.

Takato looked around for his umbrella upon his mother's command, but found out that it was missing. _Oh right, I left it at Ruki's house that other time... umm... _Takato thought, there was Ruki's name again. It would seem like that no matter what happened Takato ended up with the thought of Ruki. Letting out a sigh, Takato opened the door and stepped outside. Although the time was late, Takato would at least have some freedom as he was no longer being chased.

_Ok, so now what? I was thinking of talking to Juri about this... but what if it starts to rain when I walk there? I would get all wet and mom would get angry... but..._ Takato thought as he vacillated on where to go. In the end, Takato started to walk towards Juri's house hoping that she would offer some options in dealing with troubling emotions regarding certain thoughts.

At the other side of town, Ruki was in trouble by the same emotion and thoughts about Takato. Most of the time she would simply shrug off the thought thinking it as a side effect of the days that she was with Takato. Life for Ruki went back to being dull with no action around the real world, not since Ryo anyway. While things were slow, Ruki slowly accepted Ryo's apologies and moved on to just a normal friend. Still boredom settled in Ruki's world as there was nothing to do except for tedious and pointless schoolwork. Once in awhile Ruki would meet, Juri somewhere outside on her walks and just talk, but other then that, there was not much excitement. Sometimes she even wished the days of fighting against the devas or going to the Digital World would come back.

_How dull... _Ruki thought as she placed her D-Arc along with her cards on her own desk in her room. Another boring day is passing by and there was possibly nothing to do for Ruki. She lie down on the floor looking at the ceiling and thinking about something to deter from the boring moment. Ruki thought back into those few days two weeks ago, and she realised how it was actually entertaining those few moments, even though it looked like she was guarding the Goggleboy. At the realisation of Takato, Ruki sat up. She had been thinking about him again. _This is the third time today..._ Ruki thought as she felt the foreign emotion invade her again. _Why am I even thinking about that Gogglehead?_ Ruki's face filled with confusion as she finished the last thought. Thinking about past events was normal, but thinking about Takato was not.

No sooner after Ruki sat up; Renamon phased into view and questioned her Tamer.

"Ruki? Is everything all right?" Asked the loyal fox Digimon.

"Yes..." Ruki replied, but still wondering for herself why she was thinking about a certain Goggleboy.

"Are you sure?" Asked Renamon again.

Ruki did not reply. It was true that there was something bothering her, but she did not want to speak of it. Right now, she had needed some time alone and hoped that Renamon would understand.

"Is this about Takato perhaps?" Renamon hinted.

Immediately, there was a sharp surge of feelings within Ruki. It was hard to describe the feeling for Ruki, but upon hearing Takato's name, it was like an arrow piercing through her heart. "No it isn't!" Ruki snapped, but Renamon remained stoic to Ruki's reaction. After a brief moment of silence, Ruki realised what she said and opened her mouth to speak again. "Sorry, I just need some time alone right now..." Ruki finished as she stood up, grabbed her D-Arc, and headed out the door to her room.

Renamon remained until Ruki disappeared from the scene. She knew that Ruki would not be willing to admit her feelings, but the fox Digimon knows by her Tamer's eyes that certain emotions were present, and this was something that Ruki would have to solve alone. Phasing out of existence, Renamon would wait inside the house.

Seiko was busy managing e-mails and papers, so Ruki decided to walk by without saying anything. Ruki imagined the outside walk to be just a few minutes, but seeing the dark clouds, she picked up an umbrella nearby as she went out. As Ruki entered the park area, she looked down and noticed that the umbrella she had been carrying belongs to Takato. Immediately she remembered Takato again, which greatly added to her already stressful state from thinking earlier. _This is stupid, why am I bothering to think so much about that Gogglehead anyway?_ Ruki questioned herself as she walked through the park with a few drops of rain starting to fall at a slow rate.

Meanwhile, Takato had meandering around with his own troubled thoughts that he decided to head towards Jenrya's house for help instead. Without paying much attention, Takato wandered off his course and went the opposite direction. Soon he found himself in a familiar place. The dead end on the wall reminded him of the time when he and Guilmon met Ruki at the dead end. He also remembered that Ruki teased him with calling him _'lover boy_'. Immediately, Takato gripped his chest as if in pain. For some reason, there was just something that Takato did not quite understand why he would react in this way whenever Ruki's name came up in thought or speech. It was also at that time and place that Takato realised he had gone off course so much that he was very near Ruki's house. _Oh well, might as well go pick up my umbrella_ Takato thought as he continued to walk towards the Makino residence.

Hearing a landing sound of some sort, Takato turned around and saw Renamon.

"Oh Renamon? Is... Ruki around?" Takato asked in a slow voice.

"She seems to be distressed about something, so she went off for some time alone. Perhaps she went to the park. You can probably still catch her if you go that way," Renamon said with her unchanging tone of voice and pointed in the direction that Ruki went.

"A-alright, thanks..." Takato replied, slowly going to the direction that Renamon pointed.

The fox Digimon could also read into Takato's reactions that his condition was no different then what Ruki experienced in the last two weeks. She had figured out that humans carry emotions in which they may not be aware of, and knowing that, she figured it would be best to put everything up directly to deal with the problem. Whether it would be a positive or negative result will depend on how Ruki and Takato react. _Good luck..._ Renamon said in her mind as she sees Takato disappearing in the near distance, the rest was up to the two Tamers to resolve on their own.

The weather advanced into its worst state as a sudden downpour of rain fell onto Shinjuku. The rain was unlike any heavy rain, as the rain was falling at the speed of hail falling onto the ground. Anyone caught in the middle of the storm would be drenched in a matter of seconds.

Unfortunately, for Takato, he was stuck out in the rain._ Oh no, the rain is very heavy, and I am getting soaked!_ Takato thought, as he started to run through the streets of Shinjuku. There was no place near where Takato could take shelter; he was in the middle of Shinjuku and not knowing any place to stay. Guilmon's shed was further away, but the problem lie in that Guilmon was in the Matsuda residence after Takato convinced his parents. Stopping to catch his breath, Takato regretted coming outside as he was not wet and miserable along with freezing. _This is no good, maybe I should have at least asked for my umbrella while at Ruki's place, but no use now... I at least have to take cover somewhere... _Takato thought as he continued to run. Taking the first step, Takato tripped and fell face down into a large puddle that formed on the side of the road. Lifting himself from the puddle and standing up, Takato really regretted coming outside today. Takato now spent almost half-hour out in the miserable coldness of the rainy weather and started to feel numb.

Slowly regaining himself, Takato started to run again, at least he did not need to worry about getting wetter then he already is. The thing that did slow him down was the freezing winds hitting across his already wet and cold body. Stopping in front of a fence, Takato sneezed; the cold was almost becoming unbearable at this point. Before he started to run again, he heard a familiar voice call to him.

"Gogglehead!" called a voice from over the fence.

Takato looked over, and noticed this place was the entrance to the tunnel that Guilmon disappeared to before, or the tunnel that led to the park when the D-Reaper blocked off all other sources of entrance to the area. Not wasting time, Takato climbed over the fence and rushed into the entrance of the tunnel.

"So whatever possessed you to walk outside in this weather?" Said the voice of Ruki from deeper inside the tunnel.

"Ruki! Ah well..." Takato said, not knowing how to explain himself.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the air as Takato ran out of words to say and Ruki did not know what to say to the puddle-creating Takato. The tension broke when Ruki turned around and started walking deeper into the tunnel.

"Whatever, your umbrella is right there, take it and go home if it helps you..." Ruki said, continue to walk deeper into the tunnel.

For some reason, Takato finds himself walking forward as well, finding his own voice to speak.

"Wait, where are you going?" Takato asked, following loosely behind.

"Somewhere away from that storm and wet weather, anywhere is better than out there" Ruki replied, continuing to walk deeper, hoping not to get into too much thought with Takato in a near proximity.

Takato had the thought of walking home under an umbrella, but he knew Ruki would not be too fond of the idea. In fact, she never did approve of the idea in the first place, but because of the events at the time, it prompted her to do so.

Without much more thought, Takato continued behind Ruki in the tunnel. After a few minutes and many coughs and sneezes later, Ruki turned part of her head backwards and looked to Takato.

"Ok Gogglehead, so why did you go outside in this weather?" Ruki questioned again, knowing that Takato had to be up to something to walk out in the horrible weather.

"Well... I went to see Guilmon..." Takato lied, not being able to think of a proper lie due to the coldness engulfing him.

Ruki saw through Takato's lie, seeing as how he was running from a direction unrelated to Guilmon's shed or at home, if the dino-boy would be dwelling there. "Yes and why would you be heading in such an odd direction when I caught you out in the rain?" Ruki questioned.

_No good, I can't really think much. It's so cold... give me a break here..._ Takato thought as he breathed again as he shivered through. _What should I tell her, that I was looking for her? No... this won't work it's so cold..._

What's going on with Gogglehead? He seems to be just under a cold, but... Ruki thought as Takato gave a quick response.

"Can we talk about it later... it's cold here..." Takato breathed.

"Fine... but why are you following me right now?" Ruki asked as she continued to walk again. For her, she did not want any uneasy or foreign emotions surfacing at this point because of Takato's presence.

Takato stopped; he knew that it was strange that he followed Ruki so far into the tunnel without realising it himself. Indeed, something propelled him to follow Ruki even though he could have just gone home and warmed up. Takato tried to speak again, but he found himself giving in to the numbness caused by the cold weather. Breathing rate increasing, Takato found his own vision starting to blur, the cold was too much to handle.

Ruki stopped and walked a few steps back towards the shaking boy in coldness. Now Ruki felt that something was not right, and that Takato's condition was more then just a common cold. "Takato?" Ruki said, trying not to show much concern in her voice, but she saw that Takato was unable to formulate a response now.

Tipping forwards, Takato started to fall. Almost upon impulse, Ruki ran forward and caught Takato in her arms. Redness started to appear over Ruki as she realised what she did. A wave of emotions surfaced, but Ruki did not react to them as she found out that Takato's body was well on its way to freezing._ His body is freezing... and there is going to be no one around at this place at this time of day..._ Ruki thought in a little panic as she debated what to do in her head.

Knowing that there was no Renamon or any outside help, Ruki had to handle this alone. She back into a wall of the tunnel and sat down still with Takato in her arms. Pulling the boy closer, she placed his head over her left shoulder. Despite the incessant thoughts from her head warning her not to do this task, Ruki followed the instincts of the all familiar foreign emotion that surface whenever she got into a situation to do with Takato. Letting out a sigh, Ruki tried to relax herself it was very unusual for anyone to come in such close proximity to her, even her own mother. Yet, for the specific situation, she finds herself holding on to someone she did not expect.

Despite the coldness from Takato's body, Ruki felt a certain warming feeling from her heart, and she could not help as it grew. _What's happening? Everything seems so... warm... _Ruki thought as she held on to Takato. Throwing one hand down, Ruki picked out her D-Arc and checked the time, it was already late, but she knew that there would be no other solution other then this. Looking over a little, Ruki sees Takato's face having some colour returned. Deciding that the situation would be enough for now, she would sleep. It was much unexpected, but for Ruki, the foreign emotion that stayed in her heart this time proved helpful and no longer feeling so foreign after all. Maybe for this time she would let it slide and forget about what she was doing.

A few hours into the night, Takato slowly opened his eyes and felt the warmth around him. Trying to figure where he was, he tried to look to his left, and seeing the face of Ruki immediately stopped him from moving anymore. _Whoa! Ruki? What's going on here? I... I can't believe this..._ Takato thought as he felt his heart beat a tiny bit faster. Takato tried to relax himself as he wondered why he was in such a position, and many questions surfaced but he could not find answers. There was nothing he could do, and waking up Ruki by his movement would only cause inconvenience, so Takato put his arms around to Ruki's back and held his position there. His face glowed with red as he closed his eyes and hope nothing bad will happen when morning approaches as there was no way to tell time in the tunnel and reaching for his D-Arc made too much action.

Morning approached Shinjuku on the horizon and the black clouds from the day before dispersed by the downpour from yesterday and the sun shined over the wet city of Shinjuku.

As for two certain Tamers, they started to wake up as their bodies demanded. Ruki slowly opened her eyes, and everything seemed normal, but she did notice that Takato had gripped onto her at an unknown time. Despite that, Ruki did not do anything. Although she could have easily pushed the boy across the tunnel from one wall to the other, she did not. Perhaps for the first time she had experienced something that was so close to her but also unknown to her. Reaching for her D-Arc, Ruki checked the time to see it was around breakfast time. The beeping sounds of the D-Arc had caused enough sounds to wake up Takato, as he started to stir. Ruki loosened her grip as Takato loosened his own from waking up.

Takato slowly opened his eyes, and feeling very well rested he turned his head a little. Immediately he remembered where and who he was with. He also noticed that this time, Ruki was awake and Takato did what came to mind: back off.

"Ahh!" Takato said at first response to his position and flying to the other side of the tunnel.

Ruki let out a small grin, the warmth from earlier still lingered around and seeing Takato so alive just added to that feeling.

Takato only sat there, wondering if he should say anything at all, he himself felt the warming presence. Ruki stood up from the other end and walked towards Takato, he quickly went into thinking of an excuse, but found none in this situation. Takato hoped for Ruki to go easy on him, for he knew he might have survived the cold night, but maybe not Ruki.

Ruki stopped as he appeared in front of Takato. "Well? Are you just going to sit there? Let's get out of here already," Ruki said, unexpected to what Takato predicted.

_Huh? She's not..._ Takato thought as he quickly stood up. "Ruki..." Takato said as she faced the direction where they came from.

Ruki reached back and grabbed onto Takato's hand. Although not on purpose, the warmth feeling within the two Tamers intensified as they held on, with shades of red appearing on their faces. Ruki let a grin form on her face as she pulled Takato along. For sure, it felt different in this situation, but Ruki ignored what she would have normally done and just followed what her heart had wanted.

_This is..._ Takato thought, as he was lead by Ruki to the tunnel entrance. Now he was completely dry and even feeling quite warm compared to yesterday night. Although the environment in the area was still cold as ice, Takato only feel warmth that seemed to be indescribable.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, Ruki and Takato exited, ignoring the umbrella left at the entrance. Outside, Takato and Ruki still had their hand locked together and began to walk towards the gate area. As they approached the gate, certain voices came into hearing range.

"Would you look at this place, it is completely wet from that downpour last night!" Said one of the voices.

"Yeah, it was just amazing that all of a sudden rain would fall down like this" Said another voice.

Walking by the gate appeared the figures of Ryo, Juri, Jenrya, Terriermon, Hirokazu and Kenta. Ruki and Takato walked by where they would be in view, but did not notice the bigger group walking by.

"Hey Kenta, there just doesn't seem to be anything left after the storm huh?" Hirokazu asked his friend while smiling.

Kenta actually froze at the sight of something. Something that neither he nor anybody in the group had ever imagined to see. "Look over there!" Kenta said and pointed in the direction that Ruki and Takato were and holding hands.

The group stopped at the gate part and looked over to where Takato and Ruki were. The other two Tamers stopped upon hearing the commotion.

"Whoa!" Hirokazu exclaimed as he noticed how close Ruki and Takato were, and then forming a huge grin.

The rest of the bigger group reacted with different expressions seeing the two together. Ryo smiled, he knew that this was bound to happen eventually, and he was not going to be bitter about it at all, because it just did not matter much to him after changing himself. Juri looked on with a sense of confusion with how sudden the image came up, but smiled after processing the information. Jenrya remained stoic to the sight while Terriermon, Hirokazu and Kenta jumped with happy rage.

It was not until a few seconds later that Ruki realised the situation, while Takato looked down a little with the redness covering his face. Ruki slowly approached the laughing trio, who fled as Ruki neared them. Renamon phased into existence, watching and understanding the situation. Guilmon also ran into the scene, unaware of what was going on.

Jenrya stood still while his Digimon along with Hirokazu and Kenta fled at a fast pace with the fury-filled Ruki approaching. Ryo and Juri stood innocently as the scene passed, but secretly giving glances at Takato with smiles.

Seeing silence at the scene again, Ruki knew there was no choice and began to walk away from the scene, at the same time calling out to **her** Takato. "Time to go, Gogglehead"

Takato immediately followed with Guilmon following Ruki as they left the scene and passing by Renamon.

_Everything seems to have worked out..._ Renamon thought, making an exit from the scene.

There was no telling what happened between Ruki and Takato that day, but for sure, it was just the beginning of an important step into life. Everything would eventually settle down, but first objective that was due is informing the Makino and Matsuda parents about the whereabouts of their location during the night. The sunrise of the day, not only marked the new opening of a day, but of something much more between the two Tamers.

------

"Haha! It is done! It is done!" Daisuke exclaimed as he threw his pen into the air upon completing his story. A big grin appearing on his face as he slumped on his chair to look at his work.

Chibimon was appalled by the things in the chapter and relaxed as he lie down from reading. "Wow Daisuke that was something else... too bad it didn't turn out this way for you and Hikari huh?" Chibimon said, joking again.

Daisuke's grin immediately flipped to a frown. He reached out a hand, grabbed Chibimon by the head, and held the Digimon in mid-air. At the same time, an evil grin forming on his face.

"OW! Daisuke! You're squishing my head!" Chibimon yelped, unable to break free of Daisuke's grasp.

"Chibimon... I thought I told you to stop mentioning Hikari... that is way passed!" Daisuke said under his evil grin face, then letting Chibimon down and resumed his resting position and restored his honest smile. "You know... originally I did write the story under the purpose of Hikari in mind, but... half-way through I think I had forgotten about Hikari already. It's no big deal..." Daisuke concluded as he continued to look out his window at the sunset.

Chibimon saw the truthfulness of Daisuke's face and decided that it was perhaps time to drop the whole Hikari subject.

* * *

**A/N:** So although I knew about how the chapter would flow out, it was actually quite challenging to execute it. Nevertheless here it is, and I must say it looks good from the way it came out I guess. Feedback for this chapter would be nice though. 


	17. Epilogue

* * *

Daisuke went on to finish his homework after working on his final chapter of the story, and afterwards he plunged into bed for sleep. Although still energized from the orb earlier, Daisuke still felt the need to rest. 

Getting up early in the morning again, Daisuke packed up his school things along with his story. Even though he had finished the story, he would still like to read it for himself to see his own work. Today he was not particularly early for school, but nor was he late. Arriving at school just at the right time, Daisuke continued his usual routine to get through the day. Although these two days proved different as Daisuke went under the effect of the orb form his 'dream' world.

_I wonder what's up with that thing in that world... it seemed like a dream, but the energy I feel now seems so real..._ Daisuke thought as he finished writing another sentence on his assignment. School was no problem for Daisuke through the energy boost, and as the final bell rung, Daisuke happily ran out, enjoying his freedom.

Daisuke wondered what he should do for the day now that he was done with his story; his thoughts ended as a voice called out to him.

"Daisuke!" Called the familiar voice.

Turning around, Daisuke looked into Hikari, who seemed happy.

"What is it, Hikari?" Daisuke asked.

"Well, today we were all planning to go to the beach after school, but then Miyako went home early, Iori has kendo practice and Takeru needs to practice basketball, so I was wondering you would like to come..." Hikari asked.

It did not take long for Daisuke to answer Hikari's question. Even halfway through the explaining Daisuke knew what the question was and he already had an answer there. "No, I am sorry Hikari, I have things I need to take care of" Daisuke replied and continued his way home from school.

Hikari stood in her place perplexed. Usually if there was an opportunity like this one, Daisuke would never refuse, especially when an opportunity to be alone with Hikari.

_He seems pre-occupied with something, is he feeling all right? _Hikari thought as she slowly walked away from the scene in thought.

Daisuke walked home calmly, and although it was easy to refuse the invitation from earlier, Daisuke started to think about what had just pass by._ Hmmm, that was easy to refuse... but... was that really what I wanted? Actually, I don't have anything to do right after school… so why didn't I go just as a friend?_ Daisuke thought as Chibimon appeared out of his bag.

"Wow Daisuke, you really have given up. I'd thought you would accept" Chibimon said.

Although Daisuke felt a need to punch Chibimon back into his bag, he refrained from doing so. At least now, his point was clear to Chibimon.

Arriving home, Daisuke emptied his bag and took out his notebook. The work he had done was certainly enough to prove that everything had been resolved, but perhaps the recent encounter proved that it was not enough. _I know! This was what I was missing before... _Daisuke thought as he turned to the last clean page of the notebook and started to write.

**Epilogue**

**Takato - Journal Entry**

It has been about a month since that night. It has been very weird... I mean, as if everything about my life just seemed to change after this one night. I admit I am still not used to this, I really do not know how to describe the feeling. For sure, I can say that one aspect of it is that it feels warm, but the rest I just cannot define, the feeling is complicated. Not that it's bad or anything, and I actually enjoy it... although I would not be saying it out loud since it feels embarrassing.

The first little while Hirokazu, Kenta and even Terriermon would not stop singing, and it did get a little annoying at that time. Things have gone for the better as time passed, and everyone just seemed to accept the truth that came so suddenly at them. For that, I am glad as I was losing myself listening to Hirokazu and Kenta chanting things behind my back every moment. It also took awhile for my mother to accept the reality, while Ruki's mother took it as if we are married already! I think I may not be quite ready for that, but... someday...

For the first time, I can see Ruki truly opening herself up and sharing some things that actually troubled her. It does not seem like she would do this with anyone else, and that just makes everything so much more mysterious. Nevertheless, I do think that Ruki has a soft side to her normal personality, and it seems like I may be the first to see it. To be honest, I think Ruki may have been afraid to show that side of her because of fear... fear of showing weakness and that is why she formed her tough personality in the first place. Whatever the reason is, I may not know anytime soon, but I am glad that I am able to draw closer.

Actually, just about a week ago, it happened. How should I explain it... that this event just came about out of nowhere. Therefore, we were just walking around in the park, just getting off from the school week. Nobody was around during that time, and while he stuck close together, we happened to catch something between us. I do not know how, but my eyes met with hers, and we just... stared. Those few moments were weird too, I felt my heart beating at a fast rate and I could feel something coming up but not know exactly what. Looking into her eyes seemed to give me another warm feeling and I cannot describe it like many other times. This time seemed different however. When the stillness ended, Ruki closed in towards me, and... Everything just seemed to happen by itself from there. I felt my body moving by itself and entering a deep embrace that came with another type of warmth.

I really cannot stop at how my face goes red even at the mere thought of her and even now, I am doing it. What can I say though? The warmth I feel every time being with Ruki is none like any other. Oh, and I think I finally knew why I kept that picture from earlier. It looked like a hindrance at that time, but now that I look back at it, it just seemed like another great memory.

However, I do know that there is still much to do beyond what is here now. Very true because there is many things that I seem to notice with parents speaking. However, when I ask them, they would always respond with "Tell you when you're older" or something close to that. I think maybe there is something I must figure out by myself…

Who knows, for now I think I will enjoy things the way they are…

------

"Well, there it is! Nice and simple to wrap things up..." Daisuke said as looked over the full complete work of his story.

Chibimon looked at the chapter and a questioning look covered his face. "Daisuke? Why is this chapter so short? There was nothing much to it..."

Daisuke stood up from his desk and started to walk towards the bed. "It's an epilogue. It does not have to be long; an epilogue is the explanation of what happened to the characters in the story after the final chapter. In this case, Takato finally ends up with Ruki and share some of his experiences" Daisuke explained and fell down on his bed, closing his eyes and giving off a big smile.

"Oh..." Chibimon said, slowly jumping off the desk and walking towards Daisuke. Landing next to Daisuke, Chibimon felt a spinning motion inside his head and started to meander around Daisuke's bed. "Daisuke... I feel funny..."

Daisuke opened his eyes and looked to his partner falling face down from the dizziness. "Hey Chibimon, what's up with you?" Daisuke said before feeling the dizziness himself. _Whoa, what's happening? Ok, I think I need to lie down..._ Daisuke thought as he put his head down on his pillow and closed his eyes.

**Daisuke…**

**

* * *

A/N:** Alright, so since way mentioned earlier that the age of everybody is around the same as the anime, that would make Takato around ten or eleven years old. I would say that perhaps it would be too early for a real description of relationship material, so I just kept Takato's developing mind on how he has trouble defining love and the whole relationship deal. 


	18. Finale

**

* * *

Purpose of the Author**

Daisuke found himself inside his own world of lights again. This time, Chibimon appeared beside him as well.

"Daisuke? Where are we?" Chibimon asked, new to the world.

"Well, how should I explain it... this is sort of like a dream world with very weird things... heck, I don't know! I have only been here a few times myself... and then this mysterious globe starts talking to me..." Daisuke replied, unable to give reason for the strange world.

At that moment, an erupting sound could be heard from the right side and the two turned. The world around them seemed to change colours into red background along with dark green and dark blue swirl of lights moving fast as the sphere emerged.

"The time has come... now that the other world is completed..." Said the voice of the sphere.

"The time? Other world...? Wait, my story?" Daisuke asked, starting to understand what this ball was saying.

"Correct... now that the universe is complete, we can now begin the process to save the worlds..." Replied the voice.

"What? Save the worlds? What is this all about? What does my story have to do with anything? And just who are you?" Daisuke asked, unable to understand the reasons behind the situation.

"We are in a grave situation right now Daisuke, we need your cooperation. All shall be explained in due time. Right now, look below" Commanded the voice in an unchanging tone.

Looking down, a giant hole ripped in the dimension and revealed the top of a mountain. The mountain peak laid a palace structure that is mostly red colours with golden sides and coverings. The massive structure built to shape like a staircase and at the top is a big circle place that is block by a blue-coloured barrier.

"What is that?" Chibimon asked, not very interested in the environment.

"That is the place where the two of you shall journey through and reach the top. After reaching the top, I shall explain everything. Waste no time! The fate of the world may depend on the two of you..." Replied the voice from the sphere before drawing back and fading away.

"Wait, what is all this about? Save the universe? What's this got to do with my story?" Daisuke questioned again, but got no response.

Only at that moment, a shaking became apparent and the next moment, Daisuke and Chibimon flew into a vortex that brought them elsewhere while they tried to yell for the safety of their own lives before losing consciousness.

Slowly opening his eyes, Daisuke sat up in the dry land area and looked around. The place was exactly as he had seen it from the otherworld. The land is dry, and not space to move around except that this is a mountain top with the giant palace-like structure standing before him. The entrance lead up into a bigger room, and then the bigger room lead into a more massive connecting way into an even larger room by the outside walls. From that place on, there is a huge stairway to what Daisuke knew as the peak. Looking to his left side, Daisuke could see V-mon slowly stirring up the rough ride into this place.

"Daisuke, is this some sort of joke?" V-mon asked, still dazed from the past event.

"No... I really don't know much about this, or what's up with that thing either. But look, we're actually at that place we saw earlier, and I guess we really have no choice but to go through with this..." Daisuke said, pointing towards the giant building.

V-mon looked towards the direction Daisuke pointed at and noticed the big building for him. Immediately he came up with his own idea. "Daisuke, why don't we just fly up there as XV-mon? I don't trust that thing in that whatever place... and besides, flying seems much safer..." V-mon said, not liking the sight of the building.

"Well... ok..." Daisuke replied, thinking why he had not thought of that solution earlier. Reaching back, Daisuke dug around for his D-3. Nothing. Searching another pocket in hopes to find his D-3, Daisuke searched again. Nothing. Daisuke realised the problem here and froze. V-mon noticed the stop, and could read what was happening.

"Let me guess, you forgot to bring your things with you?" V-mon asked, knowing that Daisuke could not deny the blame this time.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. We were just sent to that place, not like I had anytime to pick up my stuff. Now com'on, looks like we have no choice but to go through with this until we find a way out of this," Daisuke said, starting to walk towards the entrance of the massive building.

"Daisuke, do you know what place this is?" V-mon asked, noticing the blank sky above them.

"Huh? Whoa! This is..." Daisuke trailed off, seeing the sky at least confirmed where he and V-mon was. The dream world.

"Who knows, maybe your dreams of your story coming true will take place here!" V-mon said light-heartedly, but Daisuke drawn into thought about the issue. Story? Dream world? Could it be that... hmm, seems a little crazy to me, but... never mind... Daisuke finished thinking and walked towards the entrance of the building.

Up at the entrance, Daisuke gave the red door a push. Nothing happened. A hard push followed nothing again. At that point, both Daisuke and V-mon kicked and banged on the door, forcing it to fall downwards. Upon entering the building, there was a violent shaking of the whole area. Daisuke and V-mon ran a little further into the first room and tried to stand through the shaking as the entrance collapsed.

"That was a close one... You think it would be some sort of trap to get us?" V-mon questioned.

"Really, I just don't know... but now that we're here, we can't back down now..." Daisuke replied, knowing that the situation certainly will not be a smooth ride.

The walls on the inside were different from the outside appearance. The frames holding the building were yellow while the walls were purple colour. The floors were typical marble floor with gray colouring.

Running out of the room, the two entered a long hallway. Daisuke took a step forward, and then a loud noise within the walls that strike fear into the V-mon and Daisuke. Before even having a chance to say anything, the floor they stood on started to break and fall down. Without wasting another second, the two of them ran down the hallway. Halfway through the walls opened up and several blockades stuck out. For Daisuke and V-mon, instead of avoiding or jumping over them, they punched and kicked their way through until they reached the end room. Entering the room, the doors behind them slam shut.

"Great... this place is just weird..." Daisuke said as he breathed.

"Well, this looks like something that would come out of your imagination. Kind of like the idea where Guilmon got trapped in that bubble thing under the tunnel and then the three Tamers had to rescue him" Said V-mon, trying to lay fault on Daisuke.

"It's nothing like that... I know I didn't create this place..." Daisuke replied, and then heard a large landing sound somewhere.

Turning around, the two saw something that was in Daisuke's universe. This vulpine Digimon wore the usual gloves and symbols imprinted on knee area. _Renamon!? _Daisuke thought, not sure how to react to a Digimon that he wrote about in a story.

Instead of starting a conversation verbally, this Renamon jumped into the air, forming shards of light in front of her.

V-mon saw the attack coming and turned to warn his partner. "Daisuke!" V-mon called, notifying the dangers of the attack.

"I know! You don't want to get hit by this!" Daisuke called back, jumping to the side as the fox leaf arrowheads flew down on their area.

After the impact, Daisuke looked up; the Renamon was in mid-air in front of him, presumed to force an attack with her paws. Daisuke crossed his hands in front of his face in defence, but the impact of the attack never came. V-mon took a leap and intercepted the attack with his own punch, sending the Renamon away.

"Nice shot!" Daisuke called to V-mon before running to the side of the room.

"Yeah! Now do you believe me that this may be your world Daisuke?" V-mon questioned as he stood in front of Daisuke and watched Renamon jump back up into fighting pose.

"Whatever, it is a Renamon, big deal!" Daisuke responded as V-mon and the Renamon charged and exchanged punches.

Backing off, V-mon and Renamon eyed each other with the intent of fighting through. Running up again, Renamon jumped and formed more fox leaf arrowheads. V-mon knew the firepower of Renamon's attack and took the opportunity to attack. V-mon jumped up, launched his V-mon head attack, and knocked Renamon back. Landing, V-mon watched the smoke that rose when Renamon landed. Suddenly, the vulpine Digimon rushed out with her feet and paws glowing with blue flame. V-mon readied himself and flew into combat again. This time, V-mon's punch was blocked by one of Renamon's paws and then countered with her Wisteria Punch. V-mon landed on the ground, and then looking up to see Renamon's kick coming directly towards himself. Holding up his hands, V-mon felt the impact and flew backwards.

_Isn't there anything I can do? Without my D-3 or D-Terminal, I just seem to be a mere spectator... _Daisuke thought as V-mon suffered the attacks. Daisuke knew that there was no way a human could fight a Digimon effectively because of their skills and attacks. At least not this one in particular, as Daisuke did write about some of her abilities when he wrote the summary for his story.

V-mon stood up again, and Renamon dropped down with another kick. V-mon leaped forward to escape the attack, and then quickly jumping up and delivering a hard kick into Renamon's face, knocking the fox Digimon down. Daisuke ran to V-mon, knowing that victory is his by a margin.

"Hey V-mon, are you alright?" Daisuke asked, seeing the impacts left by Renamon.

"Yeah, I think so... just a little bruised..." V-mon replied, then sensing something from Renamon's location.

Looking over, Daisuke and V-mon saw a light emitting from Renamon, her shape began to change and soon a more massive Digimon appeared.

_Kyuubimon? No way!_ Daisuke thought, knowing how dire the situation would become now that Renamon evolved. The newly formed Digimon had mainly purple fur with red flames on her tails as well as her legs. T_his doesn't look like Kyuubimon... but whatever it is, I don't like it... _Daisuke thought as the new Digimon stretched her tails and performed Evil Flame Dragon attack that scattered flames across the room, causing havoc. Daisuke leaped away into the ground, avoiding the flame while V-mon leaped away to the other side. As Daisuke stood up, he heard a cry from somewhere. Looking towards the direction of V-mon, the giant fox pinned V-mon down on the floor with her flame legs.

"V-mon!" Daisuke called, taking a step forward, then immediately shifting his body to avoid another flame thrown at him.

"Daisuke... run away..." V-mon said under The Digimon's flame leg.

"V-mon... I... I can't do that!" Daisuke said, knowing his must do something. It was pointless though, as more pressure came down on V-mon, another groan on pain came out._ No! This... is not happening... why I cannot do anything about this... I need to save V-mon, but how? I can't do anything without my Digivice... oh; I __**wish**__ I could do something!_ Daisuke thought in panic as he watched the scene painfully.

At that moment, the world around Daisuke went completely grey, and he looked at the scene around himself, there was nothing in motion. After a few seconds into the silence, a light appeared over Daisuke, the ball of light landed in his left hand, and another fragment of light landed on the other. What caught his eye the most was in his left hand: A cone-like shape device with a short black belt attached at the top while having a black rim around the screen on the upper part of this device while the rest was white. Daisuke's eyes widened at this sight, and another as he noticed a DigiGnome flying away from the area. Looking back down, Daisuke recognised what he held: In his right hand was a deck of cards while on the left hand was his very own D-Arc. This is... Daisuke thought as the world around him resumed as V-mon's voice returned. Daisuke knew what he had to do at that moment. Not wasting a second to think, Daisuke took out the first card on the pile and started his task.

Catching the spinning card at the bottom with his index and middle fingers, Daisuke crossed his arms with the D-Arc and card and brought them together while sliding the card through his D-Arc in front of himself. "Card-Slash!" Forming a data sphere in the D-Arc's screen, a wave of energy followed, reacting to V-mon.

_**Evolution.**_

V-mon's initial skin data peeled off, reformatting into his data into a new creature, and recovering his skin data. The new Digimon formed had claws and sharper nails compared to V-mon, complete with a large body and tail. The head part was the shape of a dragon's head with a big horn at the front end while having two horns sticking out on the back of the skull. The colours of the dragon Digimon on were most blue with white on the hand claws and the chest area.

Searching the data for the new evolved form, Daisuke pointed his D-Arc at V-mon's new form.

**Name: V-dramon**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Level: Adult**

**Attack: V-Breath Arrow, Hammer Punch, Cutter Shoot**

"Awesome!" Daisuke said, looking at his V-dramon's form.

"You could have done that earlier Daisuke, here I thought I was a goner" V-dramon replied in the new form.

"Yeah, whatever, now let's see who this exactly is..." Daisuke said, pointing the D-Arc to the Kyuubimon look-a-like.

**Name: Youkomon**

**Type: Data**

**Level: Adult**

**Attack: Evil Flame Dragon, Flame Ball**

"So... another form of Kyuubimon huh? Well, that certainly isn't what I wrote for Renamon's evolution stage, alright, pay-back time!" Daisuke shouted, pointing at the surprised Youkomon.

In retaliation, The Youkomon curled up into a ball and red flames surrounded her body and flew at high speed towards V-dramon. The huge dragon stood his ground against the attack and moved back slightly. Seeing the opening, V-dramon charged his V-Breath Arrow attack that blasted Youkomon at point blank, sending the two of them back.

V-dramon stood back up, while Youkomon struggled to stand. Wasting not a moment's time at the weakness of the enemy, V-dramon charged forward and delivered his Hammer Punch attack that broke Youkomon into bits of data.

Daisuke recognised the similarity and immediately knew what could happen. "I think you can absorb that data... If things are going to be exactly like how I imagined everything to be, you should be able to..." Daisuke said as he looked down to check his deck of cards.

"I'll give it a try" V-dramon replied, then focusing and absorbing the left over data. "Alright, it does work and it's great for replenishing strength."

"Ok, so... can you revert back now? I hope we don't have to go through a similar process like Growmon..." Daisuke said, hoping that part of his world would not come true on him.

V-dramon closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, then opened his eyes again. "Nope, looks like I can't do anything right now, but not to worry, we can carry on just fine" V-dramon assured as he charged another V-Breath Arrow and blasted the door of the right side open. With the free time given, Daisuke would occasionally examine his new deck of cards he got, and he recognised the cards--they were the same ones that Takato possessed in his story.

With the closed door down, Daisuke and V-dramon continued their way into a more massive hallway room. The same colours made everything look unappealing, yet Daisuke and V-dramon knew there was nothing they could do. Besides that, they also have to be alert for any traps or enemy Digimon that are unusually hostile. The other end of the hall was unclear to Daisuke and V-dramon as blackness covers it. Walking slowly and carefully into the room, Daisuke searched the left and right sides of the long massive hallway for anything but only silence appeared. After walking for about a few minutes, the two noticed they did not proceed any further since reaching mid-point.

"Hey, is it just me or are do we seem to be just walking on an endless path?" Daisuke said as he turned around and look back, seeing the area that they came in from earlier is covered by darkness as well.

"Hmmm, looks like we're trapped by something... perhaps..." V-dramon said, looking around and sensing a dark presence. "Something is here."

Looking ahead, three portals appeared in an upside down triangular fashion. The two at the top were blue portals, emerging two dragon type Digimon while the black portal on the bottom emerged a metal Digimon. Daisuke and V-dramon recognised the three figures from past battle experience. Two Airdramon and one Knightmon stood before them.

Immediately the battle started, the two Airdramon shoot their Wing Cutters that V-dramon blocked, but knocked back by Knightmon's Berserk sword.

_Three against one? That's not fair... _Daisuke thought as he searched through his new deck for a suitable card.

V-dramon jumped back up and launched a V-Breath Arrow that threw Airdramon and Knightmon off their charging course. Seeing an open opportunity, V-dramon charged forward, rammed his front horn against the unsuspecting Knightmon, and knocked the metal Digimon down. At that same moment, Daisuke pulled out his desired card and slashed it through his D-Arc. The effect of the card took place and large white wings appeared on V-dramon's back, giving him short flying capabilities.

"About time Daisuke!" V-dramon said with excitement as the large dragon Digimon leaped into the air while the Airdramon looked on with confusion. Pay back time... V-dramon thought as he swiped his claws and sent few gusts of wind at the two Airdramon and knocked them into the floor.

"Alright! See, this place isn't so bad now is it? Huh? Ahh!" Daisuke said as he noticed Knightmon standing in front of him ready to Electric Slash attack. Daisuke tried to run, but tripped on his heels instead and watched the sword come down.

Before contact came, V-dramon dropped down with his weight and landed on Knightmon. "Daisuke, I think we can go through to the other side now," V-dramon noted, as the black coverings that were blocking the end of the halls was gone.

Running for the exit, Daisuke and V-dramon heard a booming sound from behind and turned to look. The two Airdramon flew towards them enraged. Knightmon also had gotten up from the fall and chased them with anger. Daisuke found himself struggling to keep up the running pace of his partner, and V-dramon looked to Daisuke, picked the Chosen Child up, and continued to run fast.

"You know Daisuke; your world really sucks at the moment with all this uphill and enemy Digimon..." V-dramon commented as he continued to run and jump as Airdramon attacks came upon him along with watching out for Knightmon that is catching up with his pace.

"Oh shut up for a moment, ok?" Daisuke replied as he took out another card and slashed it through his D-Arc. "HyperSpeed activate!"

With an increase in speed, V-dramon ran ahead of the three Digimon chasing him, turned around to shoot out a V-Breath Arrow that knocked Knightmon down, and rolling down the slope. The Airdramon dived towards V-dramon and the dragon Digimon jumped to avoid hits and where he landed, crushed the Airdramon. Daisuke got off V-dramon and looked towards the next area with the large door. Running the rest of the way up the slope, Daisuke reached the door, where V-dramon shot another V-Breath Arrow that blasted the door open.

Inside, Daisuke and V-dramon noticed they were in a dark tower with the top part covered by some sort of dark fog. The darkness increased at the bottom when an inner door fell down to lock the Chosen Child and Digimon in.

"Whoa, looks like we're going to have to get up somehow..." Daisuke said, unable to look through the darkness of the tower.

"Wait... I sense something..." V-dramon said in reply, feeling another presence in the tower.

A landing sound from above came up, and the two looked in the direction of the noise as two missiles flew their way. Dodging to the sides, Daisuke still could not see anything up in the near distance while V-dramon could see a faint shape of the enemy Digimon. The Digimon from what V-dramon could see has mid-short legs that are connected to a sphere structure while more up was a smaller body that has two long arms sticking out with a small head and a set or large wings.

"Daisuke, I think I can see him... but he's going to keep attacking us unless I can go up there and engage him in combat" V-dramon informed as he see the opposing Digimon jump and fly to another location that looks like another piece of wall of the tower.

"What? I still can't see anything... whoa!" Daisuke said as two other missiles landed near his area.

"Hurry Daisuke!" V-dramon demanded.

Immediately Daisuke took out the Hyper Wing card and slashed it through his D-Arc. V-dramon flew up in pursuit of the enemy Digimon, tailing him until they reached the top, a large platform that is connected to the widened walls.

_What can I do now? I can only watch and... Hey wait! This... This is so similar to... that part. Yeah, when Growmon evolved into MegaloGrowmon for the first time in my other imaginary story... but if it is the same then... V-dramon!_ Daisuke thought as he realised the possible outcome of the battle.

Meanwhile, V-dramon could not see due to the poor lighting and the sound of the enemy Digimon that was passing by was the only sound audible. Suddenly, the Digimon stopped, and V-dramon by instinct faced that direction and shot a V-Breath Arrow. The attack went right through the area, and V-dramon stood perplexed. _What? Didn't he stop there?_ V-dramon thought, as a barrage of missiles from his right side flew at him.

Daisuke saw the missiles explode through his small D-Arc screen, but the enemy Digimon to him was still a blur and not noticeable in shape. "V-dramon... you have to do this... he seems powerful, but he's just playing with you because he's hiding..." Daisuke said as the battered V-dramon got up. Seeing the black-figured Digimon appear from one location and then flying to the opposite way, Daisuke figured out the enemy pattern. "V-dramon! Watch for his movement, when you think you see him; he's actually at the opposite direction!"

"Opposite direction? Alright..." V-dramon said, looking around the area again. Soon enough, V-dramon spots the enemy Digimon landing in front of him again, and this time he turns around and fires another V-Breath Arrow. However, the V-shot dispersed while a strong missile flew out and exploded at V-dramon's chest.

At the bottom, Daisuke felt a heavy push as he flew back in a similar fashion to his partner. At that point, Daisuke's D-Arc showed the data for the enemy.

**Name: BlackRapidmon**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Level: Perfect**

**Attack: Rapid Fire, Miracle Missile**

At the same time, BlackRapidmon switched out his back-guns and pelted V-dramon. Daisuke saw the situation and began to search his deck of cards desperately in hope of finding something that would help his partner.

_Nothing... what am I going to do? I know there is no further evolution available to me at this time and location..._ Daisuke thought as he saw V-dramon standing up and blasted with another Miracle Missile. Daisuke felt the same pain. This proved that his situation is connected to his universe. _No... V-dramon..._ Daisuke thought as he held out his arms with his cards and looking up at the intense battle. Suddenly, Daisuke felt a buzzing warm on the back of his left hand. Looking over, Daisuke saw a rock statue of Culumon. _What the... Culumon? Hey! The triangle on his forehead... Daisuke noted at Culumon's forehead in red. Perhaps... _Daisuke put his card over the red triangle, and the card glowed with blue, turning completely blue. _Yes... with this...!!_ Daisuke thought as he stood up and started this process.

Gripping the card with his index and middle finger at the top while holding the bottom with his thumb, Daisuke flipped his D-Arc in front of him at below-head length and slid the card upwards through his D-arc. "Card-Slash! Matrix Evolution activate!"

_**Matrix Evolution.**_

V-dramon received the crystal matrix energy and began to transform with the added data, V-dramon's claws on his hands and feet extended in length into sharper edged nails. His back-head horns also extended and under the back of the head, two claw-like projections shot out, left and right side. Under these projections appears torn curtain-like material that is red. The horn at the front extends, completing the evolution.

"Go get him..." Daisuke said under his breath as his new Digimon swiped his claws a two incoming missiles. Shortly after the phantom dragon regained his position, the information showed up for Daisuke.

**Name: AeroV-dramon**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Level: Perfect**

**Attack: V-Breath Arrow, V-Wing Blade, Magnum Crush, Dragon Impulse, Wind Guardian Wall, Twister Saber**

AeroV-dramon immediately starts out shooting a V-Breath Arrow, with BlackRapidmon barely escaping the fiery projectile. BlackRapidmon fired off rapid missiles again, this time with AeroV-dramon flying upwards and coming down with a dive using Magnum Crush attack that made a crack into BlackRapidmon's chest area. Both fighters continued their constant struggle, but now BlackRapidmon no longer had the speed advantage over AeroV-dramon. In pursuit of BlackRapidmon, AeroV-dramon shot out a few more V-Breath Arrow that BlackRapidmon dodges in difficulty as the heat near the shots fly off and burn the black Digimon. In desperation, BlackRapidmon flew into the air and fired off all missiles into the ground, making it very hard for AeroV-dramon to dodge in his large form.

"Ahh... use this!" Daisuke said from below, getting tired at the sight of the enemy Digimon. Slashing a card through, Daisuke activated HyperSpeed and AeroV-dramon shifted away from the projectile barrage and flew in to BlackRapidmon with V-Wing Blade charged. BlackRapidmon drew back his weapons while AeroV-dramon used his attack, incinerating the BlackRapidmon into data and AeroV-dramon absorbed for his own use.

Daisuke fell down backwards, releasing a sigh of relief. "That was a close one..." Daisuke said as he looked down at his D-Arc, amazed by the powers he managed to acquire in the past battle.

"Close one? You did nothing! I suffered the pain Daisuke!" AeroV-dramon said, hearing Daisuke through the D-Arc connection.

"Hey, you don't know! Remember how Takato and Growmon formed a link during their encounter? The same thing almost happened to me and you, so I felt my share of pain," Daisuke protested, knowing his partner would always be the same no matter what form.

"Really now? So did you actually swipe a blue card that I could evolve?" AeroV-dramon asked as the floor beneath Daisuke rose like an elevator.

"Of course, I held back my hand and touched this..." Daisuke trailed off as he looked to where he touched the crystal matrix from Culumon earlier but could not find the statue. "Huh? That's strange... where'd he go?"

"Where did what go? Is your own dream coming true too good to deny? Haha..." AeroV-dramon laughed as Daisuke's floor level came up to the platform he is standing on. Daisuke gave up on reasoning with his partner; he knew that no matter what V-mon evolved into, the spirit would always be the same. Getting on the dragon Digimon, Daisuke and V-dramon headed towards the peak of the mountain.

Meanwhile at the closed hallway lie the unconscious Knightmon along with two Airdramon. The Airdramon flickered as their data leaked out of them. As the Airdramon completely disappeared into data, Knightmon's eyes opened and sat up, absorbing the data in the air. With the surge of energy, a light enveloped the Knightmon started to change in form.

Daisuke saw that they were almost at the peak of the mountain and the barrier from earlier was gone. "Alright, we're almost there..." Daisuke said, as excitement seemed to build up in him.

"Right and I hope that we get answers to why we are here... although I would say that your imagination did create quite an ok-world..." AeroV-dramon said, chuckling inward.

"Hey! What is that suppose to mean? I never knew that elements of my story would come true, besides it can't be that bad can it?" Daisuke questioned as a large explosion sound came from below. Looking down below, a pink and yellow figure rushed at a fast speed up the palace structure, smashing through the walls and running up the slope. Daisuke pointed his D-Arc to get data on the new Digimon that emerged.

**Name: RhodoKnightmon**

**Type: Virus**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Attack: Argent Fear, Spiral Masquerade, Laser Lattice, Scarlet Tempest**

"An Ultimate... this is bad! Looks like that Knightmon never gave up after the last fight, and now he evolved into his new form. Quick! We have to get to the top before he catches up!" Daisuke said, slashing the HyperSpeed card through his D-Arc again to speed up AeroV-dramon.

Reaching the top, AeroV-dramon landed while Daisuke got off, ready for the upcoming battle. Shortly after, RhodoKnightmon jumped up and landed on the platform. The platform was in a circle shape with a short-length rock wall around the circumference.

RhodoKnightmon and AeroV-dramon exchanged looks as they prepared for battle. At the break of single movement, both Digimon charged forward. Their Argent Fear and Magnum Crush attacks clashed, creating a wave of smoke to fill the air. RhodoKnightmon jumped forward at AeroV-dramon and charged Laser Lattice while AeroV-dramon prepared another V-Breath Arrow. The attacks clashed again and sent both Digimon back. RhodoKnightmon landed safely while AeroV-dramon stepped on the ground with minor damage from the ultimate Digimon's attack.

_Why do we keep fighting Digimon that are higher level then we are? I wish I made Takato have more useful cards than these..._ Daisuke thought as RhodoKnightmon started to move around AeroV-dramon and the yellow ribbons flinging at AeroV-dramon. AeroV-dramon tried to defend himself with Wind Guardian Wall, but the shield proved to be ineffective as RhodoKnightmon continued his assaults.

Daisuke continued to search his deck, hoping that there would be something usable in fighting their enemy. His search ended early when a death-sensation overcame him. RhodoKnightmon and AeroV-dramon stopped fighting and looked at the backside of RhodoKnightmon to see a circular orange wave. The circular wave created an eruption of a pillar of orange energy and another Digimon started to form inside the pillar. _What is that!? Another Digimon? This certainly isn't my day... _Daisuke thought, as he most likely knew what was going to come out of the pillar of orange energy.

After the energy dispersed, a giant Digimon appeared with colours of red, white and dark blue. The Digimon stood on a tail and the body part had two arms with armour coverings along with a hazard symbol on the chest. On the back of this dragon Digimon were wings that have orange sheets in the middle that look ripped in the shape of flames at the bottom. The head of the dragon looked ferocious in that the top part of the head is covered by red armour with two horns above the eyes. The bottom part of the head appeared purple while the teeth of the Digimon were in between the two parts. The eyes were black with a glint of yellow in the iris.

Daisuke looked at the newly formed Digimon in fear; he certainly did not expect this Digimon to appear, at least not in this form. Daisuke's D-Arc flashed as the data came up for the new Digimon.

**Name: Megidramon**

**Type: Virus**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Attack: Megiddo Flame, Hell Howling**

_No... No way... how is it that he exists!? But my real story was only after the events of the original Digimon Tamer idea... _Daisuke thought in fear as the monster Digimon roared.

Diving down, Megidramon opened his mouth and lunged at RhodoKnightmon. Without anytime to react, the large dragon bit RhodoKnightmon and his data slowly dispersed into bits while Megidramon stood up again with the acid saliva leaving into the ground where RhodoKnightmon was standing.

AeroV-dramon looked to Daisuke, who was still thinking in fear. _Takato is only a story character... although he created Megidramon through his anger, the story creation and thought is still my own... in other words... this is my creation?_ Daisuke questioned as Megidramon turned towards him and lunged. AeroV-dramon saw the danger with Daisuke unmoving and dived in to save his partner. While Megidramon missed biting down at another target, he gave Hell Howling shout that shook Daisuke and AeroV-dramon out of the air and into the ground.

"Daisuke... are you alright?" AeroV-dramon asked as he stood up while Daisuke still under fear from Megidramon appearing. "Daisuke!" AeroV-dramon said again, with a louder voice that brought Daisuke back into the world as Megidramon lunged forward into a hard tackle.

"AeroV-dramon!" Daisuke said as his partner flew backwards from the impact. AeroV-dramon tried to fight back the ultimate, but unable to hold the ultimate from advancing. Not good, ah here it is! Daisuke thought as he took out his wanted card and slashed it through his D-Arc. "Power Activate!"

With new offence powers, AeroV-dramon shot a powered up V-Breath Arrow connecting to Megidramon's head, forcing the dragon Digimon back.

"You know Daisuke, as a Tamer you really could use some work" AeroV-dramon said under the current painful condition.

"Look, I am trying my best ok? After all, it is way easier to write about Tamers rather then being one!" Daisuke said in response, not taking his eyes off Megidramon, who managed to charge Megiddo Flame and shoot the fiery projection at AeroV-dramon.

AeroV-dramon reacted immediately and flew upwards, barely dodging the attack as the shockwave of the flame blew AeroV-dramon off course. Megidramon rushed forwards with Hell Howling and shook AeroV-dramon in a stunned sate while rushing up for a bite. AeroV-dramon struggled against the bite, but his data weaken as Megidramon bit harder.

_No... this is... horrible! Why can't I make this right... _Daisuke thought as he watched helplessly at the sight of his own Digimon disappearing. Although Megidramon advance into the bite, AeroV-dramon's constant struggling made the bite harder, and Megidramon just threw down AeroV-dramon to the ground, reverting into Chicomon that Daisuke caught.

"Chicomon..." Daisuke said, worried that his partner might not make it out of the situation alive. Megidramon let out a victory cry, releasing a wave of hazard energy across the peak, causing the dream world sky to rip apart. Daisuke realised that the dream world was broken now, and that he was in the Digital World as the Flame-jacket along with yellow Rubber gloves appearing over him.

Chicomon woke up from the sudden burst of energy. "Wow... he broke the dream world with his energy... I guess he really is dangerous as you made him Daisuke... how did you ever think of such a monster anyway?" Chicomon asked, appalled by the dragon emitting such evil energy.

Daisuke was downcast at what he thought up in his own story that became true to destroy his own world. He did not know why, but somehow Megidramon exists in reality now and there was no denying it. "Well... I kind of based Megidramon's appearance from what I heard from Koushiro about Taichi making Greymon evolve into SkullGreymon..." Daisuke replied.

With Megidramon stopping fanfare, the energy around the peak settled. While the energy from the hazard proceeded to rip through the Digital World's fabric, Chicomon received enough energy from being in the Digital World and warped into V-mon.

In the real world, Taichi was walking with Hikari home when suddenly their Digivices gave off extreme red emergency signals.

"What the... what's happening?" Taichi questioned as his Digivice showed red bars and numbers flashing and moving rapidly.

"I don't know, but I think... oh! Something has happened in the Digital World!" Hikari noted, as her D-3 gave off the coordinate on where the source of harm is.

"This looks serious, should be get the others?" Taichi questioned.

"Yeah we should, this looks real big. It's as if somebody is ripping a hole in the Digital World..." Hikari commented as the two ran towards where their friends would be.

Turning to face his partner, V-mon held out a hand to urge Daisuke for battle. "Daisuke! Com'on! You never give up, it doesn't matter if this was created by you, and we can make it through!" V-mon said.

Daisuke took V-mon and held the Digimon close to himself in an embrace. "I'm sorry... it seemed like that I was too concerned about getting through this that I didn't really think about you" Daisuke said.

"Don't worry about it Daisuke, we can still fight..." V-mon replied.

"Will you fight with me then?" Daisuke asked.

"Of course!" V-mon responded.

_**Matrix Evolve...**_

A reaction occurred with Daisuke as his D-Arc and gave off a huge light. Daisuke looked at his D-Arc, enveloping himself in the light as he and V-mon formed a data link. V-mon's right arm reformatted into a humanoid arm with blue armour on the shoulder and bottom arm part. On the wrist formed a green laser blade attached to the arm. His left arm reformatting into the same humanoid arm while forming a shield on the top wrist part. V-mon's legs reformatted into humanoid legs with blue armour covers along with his body. The chest area embedded a large "V" shape. From the back, two large wings formed, blue on the backside while a having a pink inside. The head part going through V-dramon and AeroV-dramon forms and ultimately forming a human-like head covered with blue armour as well with shorter grey horns sticking out at the back, and with Daisuke's own body fusing into the humanoid. The evolution completed as Daisuke and V-mon emerged into the new Digimon.

**"AlforceV-Dramon!"** shouted the dual voice of V-mon and Daisuke as they emerged.

Megidramon slid backwards seeing the knight Digimon taking place and looking on with surprise.

Daisuke appeared in his own dark-blue sphere and felt the power flowing through his body. "We did it... this is... our ultimate form!" Daisuke cheered as he noticed the surroundings similar to those that he imagined.

"Yeah... now I think your world can't be that bad..." V-mon's voice echoed inside.

"Oh, stop it with that already... next time something bad happens you're going to say my world sucks again..." Daisuke said, knowing his partner.

"Ok... fine! Let's just beat this mad dragon to a pulp!" V-mon said in response as the two charged forwards and delivered a hard punch to Megidramon's hazard symbol area. This caused a roaring of pain from Megidramon but also the hazard glowing red as Megidramon swiped his claws at AlforceV-dramon.

The knight responded to the attack with Tense Great Shield and shielded Megidramon's claws. AlforceV-dramon lunged forward in retaliation and attacked with Alforce V Sabre that knocked Megidramon back again. Megidramon rose up again and released Hell Howling that AlforceV-dramon held their ground. The hazard on Megidramon glowed and the sky above the battlefield started to distort.

Not too far from the battlefield, two groups of Digimon appeared with their human partners. The left group had Shakkoumon with Takeru and Iori, Aquilamon with Hikari and Miyako along Tailmon, and Stingmon with Ken. The right group had WarGreymon with Taichi, MetalGarurumon with Yamato, Garudamon with Sora and AtlurKabuterimon with Koushiro.

"What is that?" Taichi questioned as he saw the Megidramon.

Koushiro tried to search for possible answers on his laptop. "I don't know, but whatever he is, he seems to be the cause of melting down the Digital world at this very moment..." Koushiro said as he noticed the red disruption appearing on the screen.

"Hey, is that who I think it is?" Aquilamon questioned to Shakkoumon, specifically Armadimon.

"I think so... but how?" Shakkoumon replied.

"What are guys saying?" Takeru asked, confused at the conversation.

"I remember... when V-mon, Armadimon and myself were sealed away by Qinglongmon... we are ancient Digimon that evolve into our ancient forms like XV-mon, while the V-dramon line of evolution for V-mon would for the more recent born V-mon species. Although somehow V-mon seemed to have evolved into his ultimate form, AlforceV-dramon even though he is an ancient type V-mon," Aquilamon explained.

"There must be some force that allowed V-mon to evolve into his other evolution line, but right now we'd better join the battle ourselves to save the Digital World" Shakkoumon said as they neared the battle field.

"Then where is Daisuke? AlforceV-dramon is here, but I don't see him around" Hikari said, noticing only two figures on the battle field, exchanging blows with their blades and claws with the occasional Megiddo Flame from Megidramon.

"I think I pick up a signal that is from Daisuke in the battle field, but I am not sure... right now let's just help" Koushiro said as he closed his laptop as both team of Digimon and their partners closed into the battle field.

After being slashed around the body a couple of times, Megidramon let out another roar that created a wave as the hazard symbol glowed bright red, and Megidramon grew in size and the atmosphere air around the area filled with red energy. The two groups of Digimon backed off as the air flew out of Megidramon into the surrounding area.

"What is that thing? It doesn't act like any normal Digimon would..." Sora said as Garudamon flew back at the force.

"No good, it somehow expanded his data in the Digital world, we have to find some other way to get in" Koushiro said, having analysed the powers of the large dragon.

Inside the battlefield, Megidramon's powered up Hell Howling knocked AlforceV-dramon back a bit.

"Daisuke, looks he powered up again, what should we do?" V-mon asked from inside.

"Well, looks like the world might be depending on us, if we don't get rid of him, the Digital World might collapse as I imagined his power to be" Daisuke responded.

AlforceV-dramon charged forward, swiping his Alforce Sabre on Megidramon, only leaving a mark as the giant dragon Digimon rushed forward rammed into AlforceV-dramon. _What? That did nothing?_ AlforceV-dramon thought as Megidramon shot out Megiddo Flame and encountered the Dragon-Knight Digimon. AlforceV-dramon stepped back and charged Shining V Force from his chest plate, but Megidramon shot out a few more Megiddo Flames that made the charge incomplete, and AlforceV-dramon shot the beam that barely moved Megidramon. The large Dragon advanced forward again, with one arm stretching out and knocking on AlforceV-dramon while releasing another loud roar of Hell Howling that shook the Dragon-Knight. Megidramon continued to push AlforceV-dramon as his other hand grabbed hold of the Dragon-Knight. Seeing the perfect opportunity, AlforceV-dramon started to charge his Shining V Force again, and before hitting the short wall rock on the side of the battlefield, the beam urged forward and hit Megidramon head-on with full force. "Keep it up!" Daisuke urged V-mon as they transferred more power into the beam.

Megidramon flew back and landed on his back on the other side of the battlefield while AlforceV-dramon got up from the use of the beam, panting for breath from the attack.

"Looks like we did it, V-mon..." Daisuke said from inside, tired from using the blast.

"Did we? I guess... wait! I sense something!" V-mon warned, sensing a dark energy coming again.

Looking forward, Megidramon rose again, even bigger this time with glowing red fire all over himself. Without much waiting time, Megidramon rushed forward towards the tired AlforceV-dramon. Wrapping his lower body around the Dragon-Knight, Megidramon opened his mouth and dived down at AlforceV-dramon's top part. AlforceV-dramon stretch out his arms to repel the dragon from trying devouring him, and getting into a struggle of survive.

"At least now we know how Beelzebumon felt when Megidramon tried to devour him... fun eh, Daisuke?" V-mon joked, thinking it might be his last.

"Ha... Ha... Very funny V-mon, help me out here... Ok fine, my story and my universe does suck in someway, but at least try to survive; we might die at this rate..." Daisuke said, struggling against the force of Megidramon.

"Ok Daisuke... sorry... so what other solutions do you have now that we're trapped? Ugh!" V-mon said as he felt his strength exhausted by Megidramon's acidic saliva melt part of their armour.

With a lost of strength, Megidramon backed off his head for a short while and lunged forward again opening his mouth and clamped down onto AlforceV-dramon's left arm. Before the teeth came down, Daisuke formed another Tense Great Shield to stop Megidramon as the teeth came together. Daisuke let out a shout of pain as Megidramon bit down with force.

"Daisuke! Are you all right?" V-mon asked.

"Barely... the force, the pain... this... can't end like this..." Daisuke responded, still in pain.

"Daisuke... we must do something fast... I trust you ok?" V-mon assured his partner.

"Right... we can't give up... not after what we've gone through!" Daisuke yelled out as he gathered remaining energy and a flash of light emitted from his body.

AlforceV-dramon engulfed in the light experienced a surge in power. His green blade extending and shining with darker green and the inside of his wings taking on a darker colour from pink to a more red-purple colour. A belt formed around the waist, having the centrepiece equipped with the Crest of Miracles.

**-AlforceV-Dramon Future Mode-**

Immediately the newly formed Dragon-Knight released the large green blade that slashed Megidramon across the chest area and got free from the Viral-Dragon's hold. Data started to fly out of Megidramon where the cut was, and the new AlforceV-dramon charged up an improved Shining V Force while Megidramon recovered from the earlier blow.

Koushiro's data from his computer gave him the correct information flowing out from AlforceV-dramon Future Mode to make a conclusion. "I got it! I knew it; Daisuke is within AlforceV-dramon!"

"What? How is that possible? Fusing with your own Digimon?" Yamato asked as all the other Chosen Children turned to Koushiro.

"Yes, I don't know how they did it, but that's what is came out to be... and that power is incredible..." Koushiro responded, seeing the big battle coming to and end as AlforceV-dramon's Shining V Force blasted Megidramon into data bits.

At the battlefield, a big explosion stretched outwards and covered the battlefield with a blinding light for everyone, as Daisuke and V-mon felt a warp through them.

Opening his eyes again, Daisuke found himself in the similar world to his dreams, but this time it felt real and a little cold for him.

"Where am I?" Daisuke thought as Chicomon woke up in his arms.

"Daisuke... didn't we defeat that Megidramon? Are we dead?" The tiny Digimon asked.

"No, I don't think so... but... where are we?" Daisuke asked as another presence developed into the scene.

"Daisuke... you have succeeded in your task... good work..." Said a calm voice from behind.

Turning around, Daisuke noticed a Digimon in the structure of a big tree, with four yellow legs appearing at the base as well as two heads sticking out. Daisuke recognised the appearance from his imagination, but did not imagine this Digimon would be appearing.

"Xuanwumon!" Daisuke called out, surprised at the sovereign appearing before him.

"Yes... it is I who called out to you earlier in the dreams... and now you're here we can talk" Xuanwumon said.

"Alright, so tell me about why you needed my story to be complete, and why I am here" Daisuke said, not trying to make his voice too demanding.

"Ok, I shall you in this short time. Your imaginations of your story and some properties were not false. They were, in a way, planned to come out of your head. Because we, the sovereigns have predicted that a catastrophic event would take place on your world that would directly affect our own world, and that the one event could change the course of history. Therefore, we have you create an alternate universe so that we can draw that universe out where the catastrophic event would be avoided and we could all live without suffering. The characters of your story may be from your imagination, but the Digimon and properties are not, which is why they do exist as well as your D-Arc. However, when you completed the story, I was to call to you bring out the universe, but... the unthinkable happened" Xuanwumon explained, taking a breath.

"What happened?" Chicomon asked.

"As you know, the powers of darkness are always at work, they managed to discover about this universe escape and somehow drew their powers into your universe as well. Thus, that is why you saw the dark evolutions of Renamon, Terriermon, and Guilmon on your way here along with some Digimon that you never even thought about. Anyway, now that you have overcome the trail, I ask you to activate the warp that would bring out your universe to save us all. Hurry! There is no time to waste, as we expect the event to happen soon. Use this to open the warp..." Xuanwumon finished, creating a golden sphere of light that flew towards Daisuke and disappearing from sight.

Daisuke got hold of the sphere, as it turned into a Golden Card with the Crest of Miracles embedded on it. "Hey wait! What will happen once my universe becomes a reality? What will happen to me?" Daisuke asked, but received no answer. Soon a white flash surrounded Daisuke and Chicomon as they warped back into their place.

Appearing back into the circular field, Daisuke noticed a battle going on in the air, seeing his friends beaten by three certain Digimon that seemed familiar. Looking to his right side, Daisuke saw Omegamon and Stingmon facing off against a blue armoured knight with dark blue cape.

**Name: ChaosDukemon**

**Type: Virus**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Attack: Demon's Disaster, Judecca Prison**

_No way..._ Daisuke thought as he turned around to his left side to see Shakkoumon, Silphymon and AtlurKabuterimon facing off with a giant mecha Digimon.

**Name: BlackSaintGalgomon**

**Type: Vaccine**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Attack: Giant Missile, Burst Shot**

_Impossible..._ Daisuke looked on as the giant mecha fired off missiles with great heat explosions. Turning to front side, Daisuke saw Garudamon forced back by a priestess Digimon with Dark colours.

**Name: Kuzuhamon**

**Type: Data**

**Level: Ultimate**

**Attack: Womb Realm Mandala, Dragon Helix**

"Ok... I can't take this anymore! I'll do it!" Daisuke admitted as he saw the raging battles. Distinctive lines in a "t" that separates the circle into four quadrants while the centre has a little circle now divided the circular area.

Running up to the circle and stepping in with Chicomon, the small circle glowed with yellow energy while the four quadrants showed different patterns of colour in red, blue, green and brown-grey. The battles around the arena stopped, all focused onto Daisuke in the middle.

"Look, it's Daisuke! He's back..." Iori noted, as the lights on the arena glowed brighter.

"Yes, but what's he doing?" Miyako asked as they all watched.

Daisuke got hold of the spinning golden card in his hand with index, middle, ring and pinky finger on one side while having the thumb on the opposite side of the card. He flipped his D-Arc sideways, held it above his head, and slashed the card through. "Card-Slash!" Daisuke shouted as he finish sliding the card through his D-Arc and bringing down his hands to the sides, almost like drawing a sideways "C" arch above himself.

An enormous light emitted from where Daisuke was and the light spread at light-year speed across the universe, changing the very data of anything in its path, along with both human world and Digital World. Reformatting the very base of life and forever changing the universe of the section. The two new worlds formed with their new data into separate world complete with their own style of life and interactions. The Digital world divided into six planes along with the suppressed D-Reaper system to control evolution and the human world forming into a normal life, but with complex network communications that connected successfully to the Digital World.

As for Daisuke and his friends, they did not fit into the new universe 100 per cent, but they reformed into an anime show being Dejimon Adobencha and Dejimon Adobencha 02. With Taichi and his group being in season one while Daisuke and his group in season two. Complete with their impact on the new universe were Digimon video games and collectable card game.

The sovereigns knew the process came though successfully and that all was safe. Things may not have gone the way they wanted, but safety of the universe is now secure and there was nothing to worry about for the time being.

_Two years later, present day Shinjuku, Matsuda Bakery_

Takato sat down on the couch and watched the final episode of Dejimon Adobencha 02. He watched it a few times already, but he still showed interest in the anime as for the one special reason. This was that he himself is similar to the Chosen Children in the show, Digimon and complete with a Digivice of his own. The episode ending, Takato switched off the Television screen and looked over to the clock, seeing it was time to go.

Getting off the couch and getting ready, Takato prepared for the upcoming event. Throughout the last two years, he had grown much with more understanding with the world around himself. Still he knew he had much to learn, but while he can, he will continue to enjoy his friends' company as he dashed out the door with Guilmon following behind. This special day was a big outing with all his friends--Juri, Hirokazu, Kenta, Jenrya, Ryo and** his** Ruki.

_Well, that sure was an interesting ending... Still, I wonder whom Daisuke would have ended up with? Perhaps he got lucky like me, ended up with someone of interest, and gets Hikari... heh, whatever..._ Takato thought as he carried the bread and headed towards the park where all his friends would be waiting for him.

_**Fin.**_

**

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A/N:** There you have it; the end part is where Daisuke made his own world go into the TV show and then the Tamers' universe becoming reality. In addition, if there is confusion on the card slashes: First time for evolving, Daisuke slashed the card Ruki-style, Second time was Jenrya and the final card slash is Takato's style. 

Anyway, it has been a fun ride. Now that this story is done, I hope whoever read has enjoyed (or hated it, lol) the story and thank you to you reviewers out there that spent your time. In the meantime, give yourself a pat on the back for reading this monster here, haha. Anyway, since this is done, later!


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